It’s a sad tale with a happy ending.
Here at Mamamia we love a newborn – and we love having a reason to be happy.
So this story was worth sharing for its simple elements of love, joy and happiness.
Which – at Christmas is something we all need more of.
Last Wednesday morning staff at Melbourne Zoo were shocked to find eleven-month old baby elephant Sanook dead in his pen.
CCTV footage showed he was playing with a tyre – his favourite toy – when he became stuck around 7pm on Tuesday.
A post mortem confirmed the baby elephant had become caught and died from the pressure on his neck. The tyre swing was one of Sanook’s favourite toys and was also popular with his siblings Mali and Ongard.
These types of toys are used throughout the world ‘as an approved form of enrichment for elephants’, the zoo said.
The staff were devastated.
“This is a tragic accident that has left our keepers, vets and staff community devastated. To our knowledge no such accident has taken place previously in any zoo with elephants,” The Zoo’s director Kevin Tanner said.
It was a dark day for the zoo.
So things seemed a little brighter over the weekend when there was some good news to report.
“He’s hairy and he’s dark but he’s terrific.”
Early Sunday morning Asian elephant Dokkoon gave birth to her second calf – 131kg boisterous baby boy!
Top Comments
Elephants mourn deeply; I am sure it's not just the humans who have gone through a roller-coaster of emotions this week. I really feel for Sanook's mum - she must be devastated with grief.
Given that they're Asian elephants at that zoo, not African, I would hope they choose a name more reflective of that.