Donations Pour In For Freeing Elephant

Money is pouring in so Diamond - the elephant chained for 19 years to a tree - can be freed. But the Buddhist monk who owns him says the elephant is not for sale.

Thailand’s agriculture minister, Montree Pongpanit, gave $4,000 to the Wild Animal Rescue Foundation to buy the elephant, and other donations have also come in, spokesman Pongsak Vejjajiva said Tuesday.

Since he was 9 months old, Diamond has been chained by his legs to a dead tree at the monk’s temple in Pathum Thani, just north of Bangkok. Wildlife activists say the monk uses the elephant to attract worshipers and donations.

The foundation wants to transfer Diamond to a zoo so wounds from the chains can be treated.