Pakistani camel relearns to walk with prosthetic leg
"I started weeping when I saw her walking with the prosthetic leg. It was a dream come true," Sheema Khan, the manager of an animal shelter in Karachi, told AFP on Saturday.
Veterinarian Babar Hussain said it was the first time a large animal in Pakistan had received a prosthetic leg.
Cammie's leg was allegedly severed by a landlord in June 2024 as punishment for entering his field in search of fodder.
A video of the wounded camel that circulated on social media prompted swift government action.
According to the deputy commissioner of Sanghar, she was transported the very next day to Karachi, over 250 kilometers (155 miles) away, and has been living in a shelter there ever since.
"She was terrified when she first arrived from Sanghar. We witnessed her heart-wrenching cries. She was afraid of men," Khan told AFP.
One of the biggest challenges the caregivers faced was gaining her trust.
"I cannot put her condition into words," Khan added.
AFP | Rizwan TABASSUM
To aid her recovery, the caregivers introduced another young camel named Callie. Her presence brought comfort to the injured Cammie, who tried standing on her three legs for the first time after seeing her new companion.
"Cammie had been confined to her enclosure for almost four to five months before Callie arrived," Khan added.
After treating the wound and completing initial rehabilitation, the shelter -- Comprehensive Disaster Response Services (CDRS) Benji Project -- arranged a prosthetic leg from a US-based firm so she could walk on all fours again.
"We don't force her to walk. After attaching the prosthetic leg, we wait about 15 to 20 minutes. Then she stands up on her own and walks slowly," veterinarian Hussain told AFP.
He said that it would take another 15 to 20 days for her to fully adjust to the new limb.
The caregivers said Cammie will remain at the shelter permanently.
str-sma/jma/lb
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
eNCA
20 hours ago
- eNCA
Pakistani camel relearns to walk with prosthetic leg
KARACHI - Cammie, a young camel whose front leg was chopped off by a landlord in Pakistan's southern province of Sindh, left her caregivers emotional as she walked for the first time on a prosthetic leg. "I started weeping when I saw her walking with the prosthetic leg. It was a dream come true," Sheema Khan, the manager of an animal shelter in Karachi, told AFP on Saturday. Veterinarian Babar Hussain said it was the first time a large animal in Pakistan had received a prosthetic leg. Cammie's leg was allegedly severed by a landlord in June 2024 as punishment for entering his field in search of fodder. A video of the wounded camel that circulated on social media prompted swift government action. According to the deputy commissioner of Sanghar, she was transported the very next day to Karachi, over 250 kilometers (155 miles) away, and has been living in a shelter there ever since. "She was terrified when she first arrived from Sanghar. We witnessed her heart-wrenching cries. She was afraid of men," Khan told AFP. One of the biggest challenges the caregivers faced was gaining her trust. "I cannot put her condition into words," Khan added. AFP | Rizwan TABASSUM To aid her recovery, the caregivers introduced another young camel named Callie. Her presence brought comfort to the injured Cammie, who tried standing on her three legs for the first time after seeing her new companion. "Cammie had been confined to her enclosure for almost four to five months before Callie arrived," Khan added. After treating the wound and completing initial rehabilitation, the shelter -- Comprehensive Disaster Response Services (CDRS) Benji Project -- arranged a prosthetic leg from a US-based firm so she could walk on all fours again. "We don't force her to walk. After attaching the prosthetic leg, we wait about 15 to 20 minutes. Then she stands up on her own and walks slowly," veterinarian Hussain told AFP. He said that it would take another 15 to 20 days for her to fully adjust to the new limb. The caregivers said Cammie will remain at the shelter permanently. str-sma/jma/lb
The Citizen
2 days ago
- The Citizen
Education seminar fills gap of character cultivation
THE Westmead-based Tzu Chi Foundation – South Africa held an education seminar last week which aimed to fill a gap in the schooling curriculum, which is the cultivation of character. Themed 'Igniting Hope, Cultivating Character', the foundation's education project manager, Siyabonga Alex Qwabe, said the seminar was also about imparting the Tzu Chi humanistic spirit and education philosophy, character education and holistic learning strategies, and different education systems and practical teaching experiences. The seminar was attended by the foundation's volunteers and educators from Malawi, Zambia, Eswatini and Durban who had the opportunity to engage with different industry experts and guest speakers who delved into the seminar's aimed exploration into new approaches in inclusive education, character development, and skill-based learning. Also read: WATCH: Foundation donates reusable diapers One of the guest speakers was Ursula Collings, a former school principal whose talk on Thursday also encouraged teachers and parents to expose children to nature, especially in light of findings that more of them are spending almost seven hours glued to devices such as cellphones or tablets. Qwabe, a former educator himself, said the foundation seeks to 'plant a seed in learners and educators of certain principles and values which will make them better people'. 'Ours is to better shape society by changing the characters of people,' said Qwabe, who added that the knowledge gained by their volunteers from the seminar will be sown into the minds of the children they provide caregiving services to across different countries, including South Africa. The local branch of the foundation provides care-giving assistance to schools such as Addington Primary, SM Jhavary Primay and Nqayizivele in uMlazi. Among the lessons Qwabe said were presented to volunteers were inclusion and learning barriers, with strategies suggested on how to identify the latter and help children deal with it, in order to ensure the former manifests in a classroom. 'A lot of the experts were showing a practical and fun part of learning and also how to help learners forget about whatever burdens and troubles they may be dealing with in their personal lives,' said Qwabe, who added that it was also about cultivating the teacher's mental health. Qwabe said the foundation's central tenets are building compassion; respect; being responsible; courage; perseverance; contentment; emotional management; thankfulness; tolerance; filial piety; and giving. 'We go to schools and conduct fun yet informative lessons that are based on these central themes, and the aim is to change the characters of learners by reminding them of these principles,' said Qwabe. The seminar, which Qwabe said aimed to transform learners and teachers as a way of ultimately positively impacting communities, ran from July 9 to 13 at the foundation's Westmead centre. For more from the Highway Mail, follow us on Facebook , X and Instagram. You can also check out our videos on our YouTube channel or follow us on TikTok. Click to subscribe to our newsletter here At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
Eyewitness News
3 days ago
- Eyewitness News
One billion Africans being harmed by cooking pollution
PARIS - One billion Africans have to cook on open fires or with fuel that is hazardous to their health and the environment, the International Energy Agency said on Friday. The problem, which its report says can be easily solved, causes as much greenhouse gas emissions every year as the aviation industry. Two billion people across the world still cook on open fires or with rudimentary stoves fed by wood, charcoal, agricultural waste or manure, the IEA report found. "It is one of the greatest injustices of our time, especially in Africa," IEA head Fatih Birol told AFP, where four out of five households rely on open fires and burning wood. These fuels pollute the air both indoors and outdoors with fine particles that penetrate the lungs and cause multiple respiratory and cardiovascular problems, the report said. It also adds to the destruction of forests, natural sinks that trap carbon and help fight global warming. The IEA estimates that 815,000 premature deaths occur each year in Africa alone due to poor indoor air quality, largely resulting from a lack of access to clean cooking methods. Women and children suffer the most, spending hours each day searching for fuel and keeping the fire going. This takes time away from paid employment or education, the report said. - 'CAN BE EASILY SOLVED' - A landmark IEA summit on the issue, held in Paris in May last year raised $2.2 billion in public and private sector commitments, as well as political pledges from 12 African governments. Since then $470 million has been distributed, with concrete results already being seen, Birol insisted, citing a stove factory under construction in Malawi and an affordable stove programme developed in Uganda and Ivory Coast. The IEA report assesses the progress made a year after the summit and sets out a roadmap for African countries to be able to use clean cooking methods at low cost before 2040. Since 2010, nearly 1.5 billion people in Asia and Latin America, particularly in Brazil, India, and Indonesia, have got access to modern cooking stoves and fuels. But the challenge remains immense in sub-Saharan Africa, where the number of people without access to clean cooking methods continues to grow. "For once and for ever this problem can be solved with an annual investment of $2 billion per year," Birol said. He stressed that the figure "is about 0.1 percent of global energy investment, which is nothing". Alternative solutions are well known: electricity from solar panels, renewable gas and especially liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), a fossil fuel, which, while not ideal, is preferable than the loss of carbon sinks due to tree felling, Birol said. The IEA said this would prevent 4.7 million premature deaths in sub-Saharan Africa by 2040 and reduce the continent's greenhouse gas emissions by 540 million tons per year, as much as the equivalent of the annual emissions of the global aviation sector.
