Surgical Boots Help Baby Elephant Support His Weight, 1929

This tiny elephant at right—he is tiny for an elephant—was the baby of the Kensington Gardens Zoo in London. At the time the photo was taken in 1929, he weighed close to 300 pounds and his legs were not yet strong enough to permit him to gambol about the zoo in healthy elephant style. Zoo doctors therefore took the matter into their hands and ordered a pair of surgical boots for him that help support his weight and protect his legs from becoming deformed.

The boots have steel braces along the sides and fit snugly over his legs past the knees. They are- made of heavy leather that is doubled on the soles to prevent wearing out. The young elephant can now move about nimbly in bis new boots.