Zurich Zoo. Elephant bull dies shortly after birth.
Bad news is coming from the elephant enclosure at Zurich Zoo again. A bull elephant died shortly after it was born. Several animals had already died of the elephant herpes virus in the summer.
The cub was too weak to be viablereports the zoo. Not even the medical start-up help from the veterinarians present could change anything about that.
The animal was born just before midnight last Saturday. The fact that there could be problems was initially apparent: because the birth had not taken place several hours after the amniotic fluid had passed, the veterinary team initiated this with a labor-inducing agent. The animal was born a short time later.
However, it quickly became apparent that it was very weak. Mother Farha and grandmother Ceyla-Himali, who was also present, took care of the male cub and tried to revive it. The veterinarians also tried to help. Nevertheless, the cub died shortly after birth.
The elephant calf will be pathologically examined in the coming days to determine the exact cause of death, as Zurich Zoo wrote in a statement on Monday.
Last summer, several young elephants died at the zoo as a result of a herpes infection. “Currently, nothing suggests a connection with the viral diseases,” says the zoo statement.
Third dead elephant calf since 2020
Older elephants in the zoo have also recently had health problems that lead to deaths: last summer, several young elephants died in the zoo as a result of a herpes infection. It is not known whether the virus played a role in the current death. “Currently, nothing suggests a connection with the viral diseases,” says the zoo statement.
The dead elephant calf is the third young animal to have died shortly after birth at Zurich Zoo in recent years. Elephant calves born in April and August 2020 also only survived for a very short time.
Older elephants in the zoo have also recently had health problems that lead to deaths: last summer, several young elephants died in the zoo as a result of a herpes infection. It is not known whether the virus played a role in the current death. “Currently, nothing suggests a connection with the viral diseases,” says the zoo statement.
SDA/amo/uri