A juvenile elephant that won renown after appearing in a documentary died in Hanoi Wednesday of an infection it had been carrying for years.

Kham Bun, a six-year-old male Asiatic elephant belonging to the Vietnam Circus Federation, suffered a foreleg injury four years ago and veterinarians were unable to cure it. The infection got into his bone and proved fatal, according to the federation.

Nguyen Hai Dang, the federation veterinarian, admitted Vietnamese vets are “not experienced enough” to treat large animals, adding a lack of medical equipment should also be blamed for the death.

The one-ton pachyderm was captured by two hunters in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak in late 2006. The youngest of a 20-member herd, he had strayed from the group and got caught in a trap.

He dragged the trap through the forest as he searched for his herd, and the hunters saw him and took him to their village where they performed some rituals and named him Kham Bun, or “nice ivory.”

The villagers later took him to a forest ecotourism site in Buon Don District thinking its tall shady trees and cool streams would provide ideal conditions for taming Kham Bun.

A Vietnam Television crew, who were in the forest in early 2007 shooting a documentary called “Dak Lak Chronicles,” heard about Kham Bun and decided to see the elephant.

They saw a serene animal with his back legs hobbled and director Tran Tuan Hiep decided to show him in his 13-episode documentary, which has been broadcast nationally several times since 2007. Kham Bun had become famous.

In September 2007 the Dak Lak Province People’s Committee decided to take the elephant to Hanoi to be trained at the Vietnam Circus Federation.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung asked the federation to treat the elephant’s injury and train him to be a performer.

However, in Hanoi, Kham Bun was kept in a small enclosure in an alley. The injury caused by the trap had not fully healed. People came to visit him and feed him but could not understand why he was in the cage.

Some said it was hard to believe Bun was the same elephant filmed in Dak Lak three years ago.

Last year, after stories of his plight were published in the media, calls began to grow for the animal to be released back into the wild.

Ta Duy Nhan, the chief of the Animal Circus Troupe at the circus, said the animal will be freed upon the orders of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

But nothing was done.

The endangered Asiatic elephant, which can grow to around four meters and weigh up to five tons, reaches adulthood at between nine and 15 years of age.

Source: Tuoi Tre