The youngest elephant of the Prague Zoo died, Amalee succumbed to elephant herpes
Amalee died of a disease that mainly affects baby elephants. This is the so-called elephant herpes caused by a complex of herpes viruses.
Moreover, due to the very rapid course, it is practically impossible to stop the disease, and even immediate treatment will not help. Unfortunately, the same case also applied to Amalee.
“It is overwhelming news for all of us, and most of all for breeders. We ask that we will not comment on it immediately and will publish detailed information on the Prague Zoo website only next week,” she said on her website on Friday morning Prague ZOO.
However, this is not the first case in the Czech Republic. In 2016, Sumitra, a female elephant from the Ostrava Zoo, died suddenly of him. This was the first case of death from elephant herpes.
“Sumitra thus died of one of the most serious diseases that are currently decimating Indian elephants both in human care and in the wild,” said expert Thomas Hildebrandt from the Berlin Institute for Animal Disease Research seven years ago.
The Prague Zoo has been breeding elephants since 1933. There are currently nine of them. The oldest member of the herd is the female Gulab, who was acquired by the zoo in 1966. In addition to Tamara, Max, Rudi and Ankhor, the females Shanti and Janita also live in the garden. She was the mother of the late Amalee.
Since March 2013, the elephants have been living in a new area called Elephant Valley. Its construction cost about 500 million crowns. It is the largest complex ever opened by any of the Czech or Slovak zoos. The elephant house offers separate stables as well as shared indoor spaces that allow the elephants to move around in the winter. Inside, the elephants have a heated pool and hidden feeders.