JUMBO CONTACT LENS

An elephant in an Amsterdam zoo is the first elephant in Europe to be fitted with a contact lens, after her eye was injured during a scuffle with another elephant.

Forty-five year-old elephant Win Thida’s eye began streaming and she was having trouble keeping it open because of the pain. A vet was called in, and an examination revealed that the elephant’s cornea had been damaged.

The vet says she has often fitted horses with contact lenses, but this was the first time she attempted the procedure with an elephant. Fortunately, Win Thida was very cooperative. Elephants can’t lie down for long before their immense weight hampers their breathing, so she had to remain standing under anaesthetic, and the vet needed to stand on a ladder to reach her patient’s eye.

The treatment took less than an hour, and Win Thida seemed happier immediately after surgery. Protected by the contact lens, the wound on her cornea will now be able to heal, the vet says.