Rescued Ex-Circus Elephant Struggles To Recover

by Cassy Maxton

The newest resident of a Tennessee elephant refuge still faces a serious health crisis after being rescued by the U.S Department of Agriculture in November.

Dehli, a 57-year-old female Asian elephant, is suffering from severe foot rot and chemical burns from having formaldehyde poured on her wounds. After her rescue in November, she was taken to The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, TN, a natural-habitat refuge for endangered Asian elephants located about 60 miles from Nashville.

Despite her physical condition, Dehli seems to be in good spirits, according to sanctuary founder Carol Buckley.

"She is very playful and gentle, but her physical condition doesn't look good at all. We're giving her antibiotics and pain killers but recovery is unrealistic because of the advanced condition of the disease," Buckley told a reporter for Reuters.

"It's obvious she very much wants to live, and that helps," Buckley added.

Foot rot, the leading cause of death among captive elephants, occurs when the elephant is forced to walk around on concrete.

"Elephants in the wild don't have the foot problems that those in captivity do," Buckley pointed out in a statement to The Tennessean,

Buckley said The Elephant Sanctuary is now "fighting to save" Dehli.

Caretakers give Dehli medicine in her food daily to help manage her pain. She will join the nine other elephants in residence at the 2,700-acre sanctuary once her quarantine concludes.

Captured from the wild as an infant, Dehli had spent her entire life incarcerated in the circus.

The USDA seized her from an Illinois-based company that leases animals to circuses. That company now faces allegations of violations of the Animal Welfare Act.

© 2003 Animal News Center, Inc.