Keepers at the Calgary Zoo are keeping a close eye on the Asian elephant, Maharani, after she delivered a premature stillborn calf on Wednesday morning.
The calf was due in February or March 2013.
“It is clear even at this very early stage that the calf was born 5 to 6 months early and appears to be of a small size even for this point of gestation; the weight of this foetus was a fraction of what we would expect of a healthy full-term calf. The preliminary post-mortem has confirmed the male fetus had been dead for several weeks and this would have triggered the miscarriage,” said Dr. Jake Veasey, Director of Animal Care, Conservation and Research.
Dr. Veasey says that “All indications are that Rani was calm the night before; she is calm now and we are monitoring her health and well-being closely.”
The zoo says they may never know the reason for the loss, but there is no evidence to indicate there was any external cause.
“In reviewing the footage, it was both comforting and heart-breaking for us to learn that all of our preparations in providing Rani with the right social and physical environment resulted in her doing absolutely everything right. She behaved perfectly appropriately; immediately on giving birth she backed up, sought reassurance from the other cows and calmly approached the calf to encourage it to move. Tragically the calf was already dead,” said Dr. Veasey.
Keepers work closely with the elephants and were saddened by the news. The zoo has made counselling available to staff and have closed the elephant building for the time being so staff can monitor the herd.
The zoo announced back in April that it was working to relocate the elephants to another facility within the next four to five years.
Zoo officials say that they had every reason to assume the birth would be successful and considered the needs of the calf in their relocation plans.
The zoo says it will continue its global search for a new home for the elephants.
