Hansa plays with her mother, Chai, at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo in 2001.
Zoos don't have a treatment for herpes when about to give birth? Why not?
Elephant herpes is so pervasive and fatal that it's irresponsible and "ill-conceived" for Woodland Park Zoo keepers to breed once again an elephant who already lost one daughter to the disease, according to several animal-rights groups.
Statistics on the prevalence of the herpes virus in zoo elephants were released Tuesday by In Defense of Animals (IDA) and two local animal-rights groups who called for an immediate end to the breeding of Woodland Park Zoo elephants.
Woodland Park Zoo deputy director Bruce Bohmke said Tuesday that the zoo is committed to its breeding program and could attempt to inseminate Chai as early as January.
He said he believes breeding elephants in captivity increases the species' chances of long-term survival.
Chai, a longtime resident of the Seattle zoo, gave birth to Hansa more than six years ago after several unsuccessful insemination attempts....
Elephant Dies Of Herpes Virus
POSTED: 10:58 am CST December 2, 2007
UPDATED: 11:20 am CST December 2, 2007
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A young elephant died Saturday after being treated for a herpes virus at Springfield's Dickerson Park Zoo.
Elephant keepers Thursday noticed early symptoms of the elephant herpes virus on the calf, Nisha, a 16-month-old Asian elephant. The symptoms included a lesion on the roof of Nisha's mouth and discoloration of her tongue.
Nisha received an aggressive treatment of an anti-viral drug in combination with antibiotics and a drug to reduce swelling.
http://www.kmbc.com/news/14751818/detail.html
Spotlight on Zoo Science
April 1, 2005
Tracking an Elephant Killer
National Zoo scientists are trying to solve the case of a virus that kills elephants.
In 1995, the National Zoo community was devastated by the sudden death of Kumari, the 16-month-old baby Asian elephant, from a previously unidentified disease. National Zoo pathologists Laura Richman and Richard Montali found evidence of a herpesvirus infection. After further investigation, they discovered it was a novel herpes virus that causes a hemorrhagic (bleeding) disease in elephants.
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/ConservationAndScience/SpotlightOnScience/elephantvirus.cfm
