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An elephant walks through the elephant enclosure at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium on Wednesday in Highland Park.
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Pittsburgh Zoo battles 'criticisms and accusations' while mourning baby elephant's death

Andrew Rush/Post-Gazette

Pittsburgh Zoo battles 'criticisms and accusations' while mourning baby elephant's death

The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium’s 3-month-old African elephant calf was euthanized Wednesday morning, ending three months of round-the-clock care and efforts by a team of staff, veterinarians, and international experts on saving abandoned elephant calves. The female failed to put on weight and, it was determined, could not survive.

“It is with great sadness that I announce our baby elephant passed away this morning,” said an emotional zoo CEO Barbara Baker at a press conference Wednesday morning at the zoo.

Dr. Baker said while she and the zoo staff care deeply for each of the zoo’s animals, the baby elephant’s death was made worse by the calf’s “great character” that endeared her to everyone who came in contact with her.

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“She was feisty. She was a character, very sweet and loving,” she said, having to pause several times during the 15 minute press conference because she was choked up.

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The baby elephant — who was unnamed because of her precarious medical situation — was euthanized in a “humane” decision after a series of challenges made saving her life difficult, at best, from the beginning, Dr. Baker said.

Her death put the zoo back in the spotlight in the ongoing debate about keeping elephants captive in zoo settings — something the zoo was wary about as it made its decision to euthanize the baby Wednesday morning.

In the press release it sent out Wednesday morning, it addressed concerns from outside organizations — “criticisms and accusations from those with limited information and no animal care experience.”

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During her press conference before reporters were given a chance to ask questions, Dr. Baker also addressed the anticipated criticism from “people [who] often have misinformation and don’t know what they’re talking about.”

Within two hours of the announcement, the advocacy organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) — which has been calling on the Pittsburgh Zoo to end its elephant breeding program and has been criticizing the zoo’s handling of the baby elephant’s situation — put out a statement further criticizing the zoo.

“This elephant’s short life ended without the comfort of her mother or other elephants. The Pittsburgh Zoo has publicly glossed over the apparent true extent of the health crisis that this unnamed baby must have suffered,” it said, in part.

The zoo would not answer questions about PETA’s statement.

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The zoo was so concerned about getting its message out that it sent the press release saying that the calf had been euthanized to news organizations across the city at 9:30 a.m. – even though Dr. Baker said the calf did not die until 10 a.m. As a result, some news organizations, including the Post-Gazette, posted stories saying the calf was dead before it died.

Tracy Gray, the zoo’s spokeswoman, said by the time the press release went out, the euthanizing process was “already underway.”

The zoo’s defensiveness about the subject made it even reluctant to share details about how the calf was euthanized.

Ms. Gray would not say if or what kind of drugs were used, or if some other method was employed other than drugs, because, she said in an email, “There really is no need to.”

The zoo also would not make any of its elephant zookeepers available to speak with reporters. Ms. Gray said they were “just heartbroken and want to be left alone.”

The calf’s challenges started the day she was born on May 31.

She was born a month early at the zoo’s International Conservation Center in Somerset County to Seeni, a 23-year-old who was one of three elephants the zoo rescued from Botswana in 2011.

She only weighed 184 pounds, which is 52 pounds lower than the average African elephant calf’s weight at birth. On top of that, Seeni then rejected her and produced no milk for her.

The zoo then moved her from Somerset to the elephant enclosure at the Pittsburgh Zoo, and introduced her to the six-member herd there, and the herd’s matriarch, Tasha, who was affectionate to the calf.

Still, zoo staff had to care for her from the day of her birth, feeding her by hand with a mix of elephant’s milk – taken from another zoo female – and a special African elephant milk formula.

The calf did well enough that she was finally put on view to the public on July 7 to the delight of zoo patrons who lined up to see the newest zoo baby.

But the joy was short-lived. She was taken off public view three weeks later on July 24 after she began experiencing teething problems. Four molars were coming in at the same time, and that made drinking milk difficult. Her weight had dropped then to 178 pounds when she should have been gaining one pound every two days.

At the time, Dr. Baker warned that the first 90 days of the calf’s life would be critical to her survival.

Wednesday, Dr. Baker said that in consultations with the world’s experts on hand-rearing elephant calves “they warned us… that this would be a very difficult process and this [teething] was the time they lost a lot of calves.”

A month later, on Aug. 23, after the calf stopped eating altogether because of the severe teething issues, the zoo took the drastic step of surgically inserting a feeding tube into the calf’s esophagus to feed her.

“You know, she was a feisty calf and she had a lot of fight,” Dr. Baker said. “So we fought to help her gain weight.”

But, she added: “We knew when we put the feeding tube in that this was our last chance.”

Despite the flow of food, the calf continued to lose weight and was just 166 pounds when she died Wednesday, when she “should have been well over 200 pounds,” Dr. Baker said.

“We suspect that she was dealing with some sort of birth defect and was not able to gain weight,” Dr. Baker said, noting that a full necropsy will be done on the calf to try to learn as much as possible about what led to her death. Results from tests are expected in eight to 12 weeks.

After the necropsy, the calf’s body will be taken back to the Somerset location, where she will be buried on the property.

Many zoo patrons learned about the baby’s death on their cell phones when news alerts and Facebook live video alerts popped up.

“It’s definitely sad,” said Angel Roberts of Plum, who was viewing the African elephant exhibit with her son, Logan, 3, Wednesday morning just after watching the press conference on her cell phone. “But it definitely seems like the zoo did everything they could possibly do.”

The sign at the Elephant Care Center on Wednesday still said it was closed because, “Our elephant calf is not yet ready to be on exhibit.”

Marc Anthony Riley and his family from Monaca were looking for the calf when they came to the zoo, and only learned she had died from a reporter.

He and his family had followed the baby’s problems in news story, and he said he understood the zoo’s decision to euthanize her.

“You can’t leave her in pain like that,” he said.

The calf’s death was clearly hard for zoo staffers, and not just those who worked with the elephants.

“It’s hard for everybody,” Kathy Suthard, the zoo’s lead mammal keeper, said during a short interview at the zoo, fighting tears as she walked near the African section.

She does not work with the elephants currently. But she said she was good friends with the elephant staff and had seen the baby in passing and, like many, hoped the calf’s strength would help.

“Especially cause it was so feisty,” she said, “we thought, ‘If any baby can do it, this baby can do it.”

“It just goes to show you that even the strongest can’t always survive,” she said. “It doesn’t always have a happy ending.”

Sean D. Hamill: Shamill@post-gazette.com or 412-263-2579 or Twitter: @SeanDHamill

First Published: August 30, 2017, 1:57 p.m.
Updated: August 30, 2017, 9:10 p.m.

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An elephant walks through the elephant enclosure at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium on Wednesday in Highland Park.  (Andrew Rush/Post-Gazette)
Aria Schweitzer, 3, of Cranberry and Logan Roberts, 3, of Plum, pose with a cutout of a baby elephant at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium on Wednesday in Highland Park.  (Andrew Rush/Post-Gazette)
A woman pushes a stroller past an elephant crossing sign at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium on Wednesday. The zoo announced the death of their baby elephant that morning.  (Andrew Rush/Post-Gazette)
Barbara Baker, president & CEO of the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, speaks to the media during a press conference at the zoo announcing the death of its baby elephant on Wednesday.  (Andrew Rush/Post-Gazette)
An room at the elephant enclosure at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium is empty on the day that the zoo announced the death of their baby elephant.  (Andrew Rush/Post-Gazette)
The baby elephant inspects a camera after meeting the public for the first time at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium in Highland Park on July 7. On Wednesday, the zoo announced that the calf was euthanized after it couldn't gain weight following surgery to insert a feeding tube.  (Andrew Rush/Post-Gazette)
The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium’s 4-week-old baby elephant was displayed to the public in early July. The calf died Wednesday after zookeepers made the decision to euthanize her. The calf had been struggling through the teething process and would not eat. After surgery to insert a feeding tube, the baby was still not gaining weight, prompting the zoo's decision.  (Andrew Rush/Post-Gazette)
Andrew Rush/Post-Gazette
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