Dumbo the baby elephant suffered horrifying injuries at Phuket Zoo in Thailand when he tried to move his front legs out from a puddle of mud
A baby elephant has died after he broke his back legs while performing tricks at a Thai zoo.
The two-year-old calf, named Dumbo by volunteers at a campaign group called Moving Animals, was ‘forced to rave’ for the tourists.
In a distressing footage that went viral last month, Dumbo was made to kick around a soccer ball, twirl hula-hoops and even balance on podiums.
He suffered the catastrophic injuries when his front legs became stuck in a puddle of mud while performing at Phuket Zoo on April 14.
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The elephant’s back legs broke under the huge pressure as he tried to hold himself up.
Sadly, Dumbo was left untreated for three days.
When he was sent to a veterinary hospital, he was found to have an infection that caused him to have diarrhea and other health complications.
A vet who helped treat Dumbo said the elephant’s body was not absorbing nutrients as it should, which made him very weak, reported PETA.
He died a short time later.
Moving Animals is now urging tourists to never pay to see animals in captivity.
Amy Jones, co-founder of the campaign group, said: “This is a tragic and horrific end to Dumbo’s heartbreakingly-short life.
Animals in zoo are under great stress when they are being forced to perform tricks(Image: EPA)
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“For Dumbo to die whilst under the so-called ‘care’ and ‘treatment’ of the zoo shows just how neglected these animals are in captivity.
“No animals deserves to repeat Dumbo’s tragic story.”
Moving Animals earlier launched a petition and called for all animal lovers to help close Phuket Zoo.