Land Mine Victim

Surgeons amputated an elephant’s front left foot Saturday, more than a week after the animal hobbled into the clinic after stepping on a land mine. Doctors called the operation successful, but the animal’s survival was still uncertain. Some feared that the heavy doses of anesthetics would kill the 38-year-old pachyderm, Motola, whose health had already been jeopardized by the amphetamines her owner had given her to make her work faster hauling logs. A team of five surgeons - assisted by 12 nurses, a hydraulic crane, 20 Thai soldiers and a firetruck - operated. Using enough anesthetic to knock out 70 humans, they were able to cut away dead flesh that they hope can be replaced with a prosthesis.