Sad News

Sri, a 26-year-old Asian elephant at the Saint Louis Zoo, was due to give birth to her first baby in November 2005. We are saddened to announce that complications in Sri’s pregnancy have led to the death of her calf. Staff became concerned during the last two weeks of her pregnancy when labor did not progress as expected.

The death has devastated our staff, who have worked extremely hard over the last 22 months doing everything possible to prepare for this birth. Their commitment and dedication to our elephants is tremendous, including round-the-clock vigils during the last month.

Sri’s demeanor and attitude remain normal. She’s eating well and currently living with her herdmates in River’s Edge.

Our elephant care staff is now committed to helping Sri through this next phase, continuing to monitor her closely for any evidence of complications. She will continue to exercise and will have blood work and ultrasounds done on a regular basis for monitoring purposes until she passes the stillborn calf.

The St. Louis community has been anxiously following Sri’s progress through her pregnancy. Our staff appreciates the outpouring of support received from the St. Louis community and from around the world.

Background

First time pregnancies for most mammals are considered to be higher risks statistically. This pattern holds true for elephants, as well. Elephants have a gestation period of 20-22 months, and baby elephants can weigh 250-350 pounds at birth. During Sri’s long pregnancy, the Zoo was in regular contact with several international consultants. An elephant reproductive specialist from Missouri State University was brought to the Zoo to assist in assessing the condition of Sri and her calf.

Zoo veterinarians and animal care staff monitored the pregnancy via ultrasound over several months. Through ultrasound exams it was concluded that apparently the calf died in utero. Experience with similar elephant pregnancies suggests that the best thing to do at this point is to let nature take its course and allow Sri to pass the calf at her own pace.

For many animals experiencing birthing difficulties, a Caesarian section is the appropriate intervention. Unfortunately, due mostly to limitations of size, C-sections are not performed in elephants. In all cases where this has been attempted, both calf and mom died. However, in cases when the fetus died in the uterus and was left, the cow passed the fetus in weeks to months. This seems to be the natural response in elephants.

Endangered Elephants

Species Survival Plans (SSP) are cooperative conservation programs developed by North American zoos and aquariums to manage the breeding of zoo animal populations. The goal is to maintain healthy, self-sustaining populations that are genetically diverse and demographically stable.SSPs also include research, public education, reintroduction programs and field projects.

Asian elephants are endangered in the wild. As few as 35,000 Asian elephants remain in forests of south and southeast Asia. Through the SSP for Asian elephants, participating zoos cooperate to help rescue the declining North American population that is in jeopardy.