May 23, 2007
A NEWBORN elephant was dramatically saved from death after his mother tried to crush and then drown him at a Berlin zoo.
Staff were caught offguard by the speed with which African elephant Pori, 26, gave birth to her 250lb baby. Stressed from the birth, Pori - who killed her first baby at the zoo in 2005 - seemed to stamp on him.
Keepers saw it as a clumsy attempt to get him to struggle to his feet - but bystanders thought she was trying to kill him.
Then she began rolling him through the sand of her enclosure into a moat, using all three tons of her weight to move him as though he was a beach ball.
Hundreds of spectators at the Friedrichsfelde zoo screamed in alarm as keepers flocked to the enclosure.
They threw apples at Pori, tried to tempt her with carrots and cabbages. But Pori seemed intent on killing her baby.
"It was terrible," said Andre Dominkius, who witnessed the incident. "The poor baby was making these squealing noises and had blood pouring out of a wound on one of his eyes.
"When she rolled him in the water his own instincts must have kicked in and he stuck his trunk above the surface as a snorkel to try to breathe."
Another spectator said: "I saw her try to put her foot on top to push him under."
Karola Ebert, who also saw the drama, said: "It seemed the mother wanted him dead. We were among the first to raise the alarm. There was this terrible bleating as if he was asking: Mummy, why are you doing this to me?"
Finally keepers managed to lure Pori away with bread and apples. Staff and bystanders then pulled the shocked, half-drowned baby out of the water by his trunk.
He was given a tranquilliser and some painkillers and pronounced healthy.
The baby was reunited with his mother on Monday night - although a guard was posted in the elephant house to make sure her killer instinct did not return.
Claus Pohle, deputy director of the zoo, tried to play down the drama, saying: "We had not expected the birth to come so quickly, otherwise we would have been on hand and separated them immediately. She would have given birth to him inside with staff on hand.
"It is a natural action of elephant mothers to try to stimulate newborns to stand by nudging them. Putting him in the water was her clumsy way of trying to stimulate him to stand.
"The other time her baby died is not comparable: She turned in her enclosure and the pressure of her body crushed the baby.
"This baby showed all the right reflexes in the water, putting its trunk above the surface. We could not enter because the remaining elephant herd was too excited by the commotion. But all is well with Pori and her son, who has yet to be named. She is a proud and loving mother now."
Over a dozen people have sent me the above video, and I haven't posted it. One of them contacted me today and asked, "why haven't you posted the video I sent. Are you afraid to admit it shows an elephants compassion and human side?" I will respond to them here. No, I didn't post it because it is some more made up, feel good footage of which there is a boat load available, and I am truthfully more bothered by the infanticide that occurs with these "compassionate" animals. The odd thing is, I also was sent the same footage as "amazing" by learned professionals that should know better, and that is troubling. They like I, have seen elephants swimming and playing many, many times and there is nothing other then that activity going on in this video. An elephant can do amazing things with it's trunk, when it want's too. I don't see an effort what so ever to pull, or wrap the babies hips and pull it to "safety" in this video. The mother actually leaves, and an younger possibly sibling get's in the water with the calf, as others stood around drinking. Folks need to accept animals for what they are, if we are truly going to learn from them. Quite making up things, because you are just wasting valuable time and resources, which could be used for legitimate good of elephants. Stop the alibi's to fit your agenda, like Carol Buckley and her PST Syndrome and Deputy Director Claus Pohle with this:
"It is a natural action of elephant mothers to try to stimulate newborns to stand by nudging them. Putting him in the water was her clumsy way of trying to stimulate him to stand. The other time her baby died is not comparable: She turned in her enclosure and the pressure of her body crushed the baby."
What was she before Mr. Pohle? You are quoted as saying all was as expected, just a bit of confusion is all.
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