March 2,2009
A veterinarian at the Emmen Zoo has euthanised an elephant which fell into a ditch on Sunday. The 45-year-old Annabel, the Dutch zoo's oldest elephant, fell into the dry ditch that surrounds the elephant compound at 4.00 pm on Sunday. She landed on her side and was unable to climb back out by herself.
A breakdown truck was called to lift her out of the ditch, but her rescuers couldn't get her to stand up again. A vet said she had gone into a state of shock and decided to euthanise her.
Although elephants regularly fall into the ditch surrounding their compound at the Emmen zoo, nearly all of them are able to climb back out by themselves.
Annabel in 2003Courtesy of Mark Rosenthal
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16 comments:
Emmen Zoo also state that they will not make anny alteration's to their outdoor exhibit to stop this from happening agian.
Bjorn
Bjorn,
I don't know why they would make alterations. It was obviously an unfortunate, freak accident. We don't know if she "fell" in or was "pushed." Most pictures of I have seen of Annabel, she seems to be always standing right on the edge. Unless someone saw what happened, we may never know.
Wade
ok wade your right i did overeacted, for that i am sorry. The story so far is that she was involved in some playfighting with an other herd member, and that by accident she was pushed in the dry moat around the exhibit. I also shoud explain that i live in the Netherlands. I will try get some more info but be patience whit me, because i have to translate it in to English.
Bjorn
Bjorn,
No need to apologize for anything. Most misunderstandings about animals are made, because we don't understand the full circumstances. It is when it is "black and white" and folks bluff you, that you should react. Take the time to learn/understand, don't hear what you want to hear, who you want to hear it from.
Take your time, and I will look forward to further reports. Thank you.
Wade
Addendum to Bjorn,
Annebel came to the zoo, in 1966, and as of Sept. 2008 had never produced a calf. She appeared to be a loner, spending much time by herself away from the herd, with was normally near the edge some place. I'll bet you a box of fine dutch chocolate, it was closer to fighting then playing, which ended with her unfortunate death in the dry moat.
Wade
A2,
I posted it and then, I thought, "no, who is this to tell me what to post, and what not to post, so I deleted it." You do have stones. I will go and delete the other one now. Come back again when you can't stay so long.
Wade
It is no coincidence that you decided not to post something that so strongly disagrees with you. I noticed that you took out the "no censorship" claim a long time ago, so I guess you are right. Only you get to decide what to post and what not to. Just like Buckles. Good for you!
I not only have stones, I have a tendency to question authority. You do too, and you are quite proud of it. Not so much when you are the authority, though, huh?
Posting or not posting does not take away from my point. It's just that no one else gets to see it. Perhaps it will be of use to you, in any event.
Hey A2,
What kinda stones does it take to not have a name??,,,,,,,,,,LOL
Casey,
I have wasted way to much time explaining myself to our "anonymous friend" in private or other wise, a privilege he should be more grateful for. I suppose we should just be like a "radical" demand, tell others what to do, and how to do it.
Wade
I just find alot of his statements ironic.
"I have a tendency to question authority."
Of course that would be in private or anonymously,,,because of fear of said authority.
"I noticed that you took out the "no censorship" claim a long time ago"
Actually A2, you were obviously the second person to get to "break" the rule which originally was "NO one would be censored unless they posted anonymously"
I might suggest your points can, and will be heard on "your" blog where you have full power to advocate "your" beliefs as you see them. I personally feel that being anonymous makes every comment half as valid as it could have been, only because if you really believe in what you are saying,,,why hide who you are? Fear of losing a job or something? Maybe if the job conflicts so much with your beliefs,,,one or the other should change. I suppose you could be from some communist country where you could be hanged for disagreeing with something,,,,other wise,,,,the Anonymous name,,,and most of what is said with it is BS in my opinion.
Well the findings of the post mortem on Annabel were releasd today, she died of a spinal cord injury, the vets of the university of Utrecht, where the body was schipped to also dicoverd that she had chronic joint problems, this was not known to zoo staff. I see that i can find some more info on the repport, and wade thanks for your tips.
Bjorn
Wade
just found out that her joint problems were causde by Osteo-arthritis, here brain will be donated to science. Also Emmen zoo just stated in a press release, that they are looking into a way of redesingen their moat into some sort of haha-moat if that is the correct word for it?
Bjorn
Bjorn,
Thank you. An autopsy will tell you why someone died, if it is natural causes. If there is "foul play", is will tell you that also, but it won't tell you who/what is responsible.
Back to the original thoughts, did she fall or was she pushed is going to be hard to decide. Somebody witnessing play/fighting may not have understood what they were seeing. Now that you have learned about the arthritis, why can we not assume weakened legs allowed her to be pushed/shoved into the moat? As falls have occurred in the past, it might be wise to look at another alternative of containment. I have never heard of a haha moat. It must have translated strange. Anybody else know what it is?
Wade
Wade
I think i solved the problem of the mysterious Ha-ha's, as it turns out these are dry moats wich are accesible by a slope. It turns out that i even have a picture of one of these moats, in my one private zoophoto collcetion if you have an E-mail adress i will send it to you.
Bjorn
Bjorn,
Translations can sure be cockeyed sometimes, and can lead to great misunderstandings. I have seen the term, "fast speed boat" used to describe someone who is a new, up and coming performer in the wild animal industry. I have also seen somebody's mother described as "nut mutter." a wild animal act translates into a "deer act." Haha may mean "half-moat?" Look forward to hearing from you, my email is wburck3@aol.com
Wade
well i for one, will from now on use an old fassion dutch/English dictionary as substitute for those translator programms you find on the web.
Bjorn
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