A 45-year old Asian elephant in Amsterdam’s Artis Zoo has become the first in Europe to be fitted with a contact lens.
Win Thida, the oldest elephant in the zoo’s herd and a popular attraction, badly scratched her eye during a scuffle with another elephant.
The elephant had to be anaesthetised standing up for a delicate operation to stop her eye becoming badly infected which lasted just under an hour.
“I was called in when the zoo reported that Win Thida’s eye was painful and streaming,” said Anne-Marie Verbruggen, a vet.