Elephant calf doing well: zoo
Source: Agencies |
March 12, 2010, Friday
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Print Edition
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AN elephant calf that was believed to have died during a nine-day labor is feeding itself and has earned the nickname "Mr Shuffles" since learning to stand, Taronga Zoo officials said yesterday in Sydney, Australia.
Keepers said on Tuesday that the calf had died during the difficult labor, which started on March 1. But a live calf was born early Wednesday.
"Despite no vital signs of life for several days, we now have obviously a healthy little calf on the ground," Taronga Zoo Director Cameron Kerr said yesterday.
He said the calf had turned upside down during the traumatic labor and may have entered a coma, fooling zoo vets into thinking it had died. When it was born at 3:27am on Wednesday, zoo officials called it a miracle.
New mother Porntip, 18, the matriarch of the zoo herd, is being very gentle with her newborn, which weighs a healthy 116 kilograms, Kerr said.
"This little calf has been through an incredibly tough time," he said. "There is no record anywhere else in the world ... of a labor that has gone this long."
Mr Shuffles is not out of the woods; however, and keepers were maintaining an around-the-clock vigil.
Keepers said on Tuesday that the calf had died during the difficult labor, which started on March 1. But a live calf was born early Wednesday.
"Despite no vital signs of life for several days, we now have obviously a healthy little calf on the ground," Taronga Zoo Director Cameron Kerr said yesterday.
He said the calf had turned upside down during the traumatic labor and may have entered a coma, fooling zoo vets into thinking it had died. When it was born at 3:27am on Wednesday, zoo officials called it a miracle.
New mother Porntip, 18, the matriarch of the zoo herd, is being very gentle with her newborn, which weighs a healthy 116 kilograms, Kerr said.
"This little calf has been through an incredibly tough time," he said. "There is no record anywhere else in the world ... of a labor that has gone this long."
Mr Shuffles is not out of the woods; however, and keepers were maintaining an around-the-clock vigil.
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