Animal expected to recover after receiving treatment in Thailand for injured foot, says conservation group

This article is more than 9 years old

This article is more than 9 years old

Pa Hae Po, the wounded elephant, braces against a pole with its trunk to support its balance in readiness for treament to its foot, at the elephant hospital in Lampang, Thailand. Photograph: Wichai Taprieu/AP

An elephant was wounded when it wandered from Thailand into neighbouring Burma and stepped on a landmine which exploded.

Soraida Salwala, of the Friends of the Asian Elephant conservation group in northern Thailand, said the 22-year-old male's left foot was badly injured in the blast, in Kayin state on Sunday.

The elephant, named Pa Hae Po, was taken by truck to the group's hospital in the Thai town of Lampang and was expected to recover, Salwala said.

The elephant is the 14th such casualty to be treated at the hospital since it began operating in 1993. Pa Hae Po joins three other elephant landmine victims currently there.

Rights groups say both the Burmese army and rebels have laid mines during decades of conflict.