Elephants are one of the best creatures in the world. They are the giant animals with lovely eyes:) Being a social creatures, they follow the human rules so they are captive.

Elephants can neither run fast nor jump. They walk on the tips of their fingerand toes. They are so called digitrades and belong to a group which also contains cloven hoofed and perisodactyla animals. Behind the tips of their toes, there is rekatively soft cushion. The sole of an elephant's feet has an irregular profile, which gives it traction and stops it from slipping on smooth surface such as snow or ice.

In order to maintain smooth surface of the nails, the nail has to be shortened make blunt and rounded by using knife, raps and blades. The crakes of toe should be firmly cut or modelled bybusing blades, an especially designed knife to prevent anaerobic bacteria to grow on the crakes of impair feet.

The elephants nails are not designed to be weight bearing structures, in general nail cracks are more commonly seen in older elephants. As a result of combination of problems such as accumulation of insects to the foot over year. So, the nail should be trimmed or rasped and rounded off at bottom to remove pressure from it and make nail healthier.

I got an opportunity to participate in one day foot trimming training organized by Elephant Aid International in Sauraha, Chitwan, Nepal. It was a new experience for me. There are many elephant welfare issues and this treatment helps to minimize the violence to them.

#healthofanimals

#Elephantwelfare