
And, as an elephant, she weighs three tons. That kind of weight&mdas;excuse me for saying so, ma’am—requires one strong prosthesis. It took a few years of work to get right.
In the interim, Motola was forced to use a temporary prosthesis. This was completely unbecoming of her status as a respected 48-year-old pachyderm.
But she was patient, and today she took her first steps. They were a success. To celebrate the occasion, Motola sucked up some dirt and blew it skyward like dusty fireworks. She has some work to do, but the limb held her massive frame, and she’ll hopefully be walking with some semblance of normalcy for the rest of her days.
We can rebuild her. They did rebuild her. Motola: The Million Dollar Elephant. [SFGate]


















Morgan Russell
Monday, August 17, 2009 at 11:42 AMYay, Matola!! You go, Girl!!
Travis New
Monday, August 17, 2009 at 1:55 PMthats awesome!
Bryan Lee
Monday, August 17, 2009 at 10:49 PMThis is what a called a very good use of Technology! Thumbs up!
Michelle Long
Wednesday, August 19, 2009 at 1:45 PMThis is awesome! Elephants are so smart and family-oriented; yey for Matola!