Why do elephants survive with a broken leg, but horses die with a broken leg?

Mondo Health Updated on 2024-01-31

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When the elephant "Mosha" was 7 months old, a tragedy struck him. In an accident, it stepped on a mine, resulting in a leg being blown off. This is undoubtedly a huge blow to a baby elephant that is still underage. But, fortunately, Mosha's story has received a lot of attention. When the plastic surgeon learned about Mosha's plight, he decided to lend a hand and create a functional prosthetic leg for the poor baby elephant.

In 2021, horse racing at the Tokyo Olympics attracted global attention. In this exciting race, a high-profile racehorse "Jet" took center stage. Worth millions, this horse has conquered countless spectators with its remarkable speed and skill. However, fate played a cruel joke on the horse.

After completing a set of jumping puddles, the jet accidentally ruptured the ligament in the right lower limb due to excessive force. At this moment, the cheers of the audience came to an abrupt end, and everyone silently prayed for the beloved racehorse. The injured jet collapsed on the track, and the expression of pain was heart-wrenching. Despite the veterinarian's urgent conduct**, the results were not encouraging.

The veterinarian's judgment was like a bolt from the blue, shocking everyone. A ruptured ligament in the right lower limb could not be repaired, which meant that the jet could no longer gallop on the track and no longer race for glory. For a racehorse, the loss of speed and athleticism is equivalent to the loss of the meaning of life.

According to our logic, it's a big deal to amputate the leg and let the jets fight again. However, the veterinarian's recommendation is euthanasia, ending the jet's life early.

Why do elephants survive with a broken leg, but horses die with a broken leg?

This is a racing horse worth millions, and it is recommended to die early after only breaking a leg, which is too inhumane, in fact, people who are experts know that this is the last "tenderness" to the horse.

In nature, horses are relatively survivable, but when their legs are injured or broken, the situation can become very dangerous. One of the main causes is fungal infections. When a horse's leg is injured or broken, its wound is susceptible to fungal infection. These fungi can breed at the wound site and cause various diseases such as hoof disease, **mycosis, etc. Not only can these diseases cause horses great pain, but they can also lead to the spread of infections and even life-threatening if left untimed**.

In the wild, horses need to run around, forage for food, and hide from predators, and if one leg is injured or broken, they will have a hard time finding food and hiding from danger. In addition, due to the anatomy and physiology of horses, their wounds heal relatively slowly and require more rest and care. If the wound is infected with a fungus, the healing process will be more difficult because the fungus can destroy the horse's tissue cells, making the wound more difficult to heal.

Once the horse's leg is injured, the already fragile leg needs to endure more pain, which leads to more serious weight on the limbs, and the horse will have to suffer greatly all the time in the days to come, causing their body to deteriorate day by day, and slowly die in pain.

In short, after the horse's leg is injured, it is difficult to cure because the lesion is too fast, even if the horse is barely rescued, it will basically be tortured in the days to come, so for the sake of the horse owner, but also for the horse, choose to end its life early, but the last "tenderness" to the horse.

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