August 24, 2009—Two Asian elephants in Thailand have been fitted with new prosthetic limbs after each lost a leg to landmine explosions.

© 2009 National Geographic (AP)

Unedited Transcript An elephant wounded in a landmine explosion ten years ago has been fitted with an artificial leg.

Motala, the injured elephant, lives at The Friends of Asian Elephant Foundation elephant hospital in Lampang, in northern Thailand.

Motala's injury sparked international sympathy and donations, and in Thailand the 48-year-old pachyderm became a symbol of the plight of elephants.

After the artificial leg was fitted Motala was taken out for a walk.

A three-year-old elephant who lost her right front leg when she stepped on a landmine was successfully fitted with a permanent prosthetic limb the day before.

They attached the new leg to Mosha, who was only seven months old when the accident happened in Myanmar, not far from the Thai border. The region is peppered with land mines after half a century of conflict.

Immediately after Mosha lost her leg she was sent to the Lampang Elephant Hospital, and in 2007 her first artificial leg was fitted, allowing her to walk again.

Mosha became the world's first elephant with an artificial leg.

Her new leg can be adjusted as she grows.

Both elephants have been cared for at the Elephant Hospital, set up by the Friends of the Asian Elephant in 1993. The world's first such facility, the hospital has treated thousands of elephants for ailments ranging from eye infection to gunshot wounds.