Another elephant at Dublin Zoo has contracted the EEHV virus.
Two elephants have already died from the disease, with staff at Dublin Zoo saying they’re absolutely devastated.
There were six elephants in total at Dublin Zoo – five females and one male.
Two died earlier this month from this EEHV virus, 8 year old Avani got it first and then 7 year old Zinda.
Now Zinda’s mum Asha, who is 17, also has the virus.
The positive news for Asha is that she’s over the danger age as most elephants who die from it are under 10.
Asha, our 17-year-old Asian elephant and mother of Zinda, has tested positive for EEHV (Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus). pic.twitter.com/UUA0GKlCGh
— Dublin Zoo (@DublinZoo) July 10, 2024
Zoo Director Christoph Schwitzer says the surviving elephants are grieving.
"Elephants live in a very closely-knit matriarchal herd led by an adult female.
"When they lose a member of the herd they do grieve – we know that. We know that from the wild and we know it from human care as well.
"So, what we do is we leave the dead animal in there for a while so that the animals can actually say goodbye.
"I think that is very important we see that. The elephants go over and touch them with their trunks and all of that.
"So, it is very similar I would say to human society. You know, elephants grieve as much as we do."
This virus only effects elephants and not humans – it’s cause is unknown and it can be contracted both in the zoo or in the wild.
The staff here say they’re absolutely devastated by what’s happened.
Work is now continuing around the clock to ensure the survival of the other Asian elephants – who are an at risk breed with only 40,000 worldwide.
