In an immensely strange and interesting incident, it has been revealed recently that a 45-year-old Asian elephant, Win Thida, has bagged a unique record of being the first pachyderm ever in Europe to undergo a surgery for getting contact lens installed in her eyes.

The elephant was fitted with contact lens during the course of a surgery which needed a stepladder by vets to make their way to the colossal patient.

As per reports, Win Thida belongs to Burma and she had recently bruised her cornea while scuffling with one of the members of the elephant herd at the Artis Zoo. Following the conflict, her eye started watering severely. As a result, vet Anne-Marie Verbruggen was summoned up for help as he is reportedly a specialist in his field and had earlier installed contact lenses on many animals, including horses.

However, the vet had never operated an elephant before, and the task was somewhat difficult, if not impossible, for him as elephants are not able to lie down on the ground because of their gigantic size.

While expressing his opinion in this regard, Ms. Verbruggen claimed, “The main difficulty was her height. Elephants can't lie down for long before their immense weight impairs their breathing, so I used a ladder to get close enough”.

Though the task the vet had at hand was nowhere near an ideal situation, but he pulled it off well. Right after the completion of the surgery, the elephant seemed in a state of joy. The operation, during which the elephant remained in standing mode all the time, was apparently possible by effective use of anesthetic by the experienced and highly skilled vet.

Before finally carrying out the surgery, Win Thida was trained for a few weeks with Ms. Verbruggen so as to make the giant-sized animal accustomed to the procedure of the surgery. At present, the elephant is doing well and the after effects of the surgery are likely to ease out soon.