Ensuring the health of endangered Asian elephants in Thailand is critical to creating a healthy population—in human care and in the wild—but a desperate area of focus is detecting and evaluating joint and foot inflammation, an illness that is debilitating and can potentially lead to death.
Smithsonian scientists have identified tremendous potential for thermography (thermal imaging and video) as a noninvasive way to detect such issues in elephants. Funds from Conservation Nation will provide scientists with thermal infrared imaging cameras to use in Thailand for a more proactive approach to elephant healthcare that includes diagnosing and treating issues before they become debilitating.
