Rejected baby elephant dies at Calgary Zoo

CALGARY (CP) - The power of a mother's love - or lack of it - became achingly clear Wednesday when the Calgary Zoo announced the death of a baby elephant that had captured human hearts after being rejected by its mother.
"It's a tough time for us," zoo president Alex Graham said amid tearful staff and volunteers who had spent the last three weeks trying to keep the little pachyderm alive. "In a very short time we became very fond of a very special little girl, and last night we said goodbye," said Graham, his voice breaking.

Zookeepers and veterinarians had been providing round-the-clock care to the Asian elephant, which died Tuesday shortly after slipping into a coma. Late Wednesday, the zoo said a group of kindergarten children had named the female calf Keemaya, Hindi for "miracle."

It was a bittersweet postscript to the short life of the young elephant.

Zoo officials had feared the calf would die after its mother, a 14-year-old elephant named Maharani - Rani to her caregivers - refused to nurse after giving birth Nov. 16.

"We don't know why Rani chose not to accept her baby," said Graham. "Maybe our autopsy will show there was something dramatically wrong with this baby and Mother knew it all along. I don't know."

The plight of the little elephant touched Calgarians and people around the world. The zoo has been inundated with thousands of calls and e-mails from people wanting to help.

Graham rejected criticisms that Maharani was too young for motherhood.

"What utter nonsense," he said, noting that animals in the wild have reproduced at as young as nine, while some wait until age 18 to have their first offspring.

Maharani's own mother was 11 when she gave birth in captivity.

Graham said zoo officials intend to breed Maharani again as soon as medical staff say she is physically ready.

"We must do that," he said. "If we don't take the progressive steps to reproduce the Asian elephant, at some point in the future there will be no Asian elephants left."

Critics say this is proof elephants shouldn't be bred in captivity. In their natural setting, new elephant mothers also have help from the herd, where maternal knowledge is passed along.

There are fewer than 30,000 Asian elephants remaining in the wild. Another 16,000 are in zoos and wildlife preserves.

Zookeepers initially tried to sedate Maharani to allow Keemaya to feed and acquire antibodies from her milk. But when that failed, the baby fell ill and her health quickly deteriorated.

Keemaya was treated for an infection shortly after birth that veterinarians say led to a secondary infection of the liver. In her final days, she was suffering digestive problems that may have been related to her formula. She did not respond well to medication.

"She was able to recover from the first infection, but she was not strong enough to go through the second cascade of events," said veterinarian Clement Lathier, who oversaw care of the young elephant.

Maharani is the youngest of the three female elephants at the Calgary Zoo and the only one which has successfully been bred. Her mother also rejected the calf.

Zoo officials were overwhelmed by the outpouring of concern from the community and people from as far away as Europe. They said the response shows that Keemaya touched people in her short life.

"Elephants are close to our hearts because as children we've been exposed to Dumbo, to Babar," said Lathier. "Elephants are part of everybody's childhood. This will not affect just our employees but everyone."

Although some say elephants should not be kept in captivity, Lathier said keeping the animals in zoos and wildlife preserves helps save wildlife habitat which is rapidly vanishing.

"In the wild, the problem is not the breeding, it's that they are in conflict over the space," he said. "They are in contact with humans more and more."