Gay, the Asian elephant, fitted with pair of 500 pounds slippers!

London, Aug 11 (ANI): An elephant at Paignton Zoo in Britain has got a pair of 500-pound slippers to wear.

The keepers at the zoo in Devon have provided Gay- a 40-year-old Asian elephant- with the footwear as it has been suffering from painful abscesses on her front feet for the past few months.

"Gay is nearly 40 years old that's middle-aged for an elephant - and weighs around four tonnes. Some elephants can be prone to foot problems," the Telegraph quoted Neil Bemment, Paignton Zoo Environmental Park curator of mammals, as saying.

He added: "Her welfare is our prime concern, so we decided to have these protective boots made which will help in the treatment of her front feet."

Apparently, each boot is about 40 centimetres in diameter.

An outline of each foot was drawn to measure the size.

The pattern was later sent to Australia where Aussie Dog, a specialist company that has dealt with elephants across South East Asia, built the footwear.

Neil added: "We encourage the elephants to exercise as much as possible by scattering their food outside and providing environmental enrichment, but they are not always keen.

"Given the choice they prefer to spend more time indoors as this gives them closer contact with the keepers, however the floor - up until now - has been smooth concrete, unlike the paddock, which is softer sand and earth."

Gay gets pedicures, antibiotic foot baths and has aloe-vera rubbed into her feet as part of the medication.

Also, rubber mating and one hundred tonnes of sand have been put down in the elephant house, to turn the surface softer for Gay to walk or lie down. (ANI)