Elephant Dies at San Diego Zoo Safari Park

Sad news from San Diego Zoo's Safari Park: One of its African elephants has died after an apparent fight.

According to the North County Times, our media partner, 21-year old Umoya was found lying on the ground before the park opened Wednesday.

Umoya had severe injuries and couldn't get up according to a zoo spokesperson. She died before veterinarians could get to her.

Zoo officials believe the injuries were the result of an “aggressive interaction” with another elephant. The cause of the death is still under investigation though, and the results may take weeks to come back.

Elephants in the park were given time to mourn Umoya Thursday afternoon, as elephants in the wild are known to mourn their dead, according to the zoo’s blog.

Some elephants touched her with their trunks, or stood next to her quietly, the blog read. Her calves, Phakamile and Emanti also stood by her side momentarily, but were led away by other elephants in the herd.

A new calf in September brought the number of the park's elephant herd to 18. Umoya was one of seven elephants from Swaziland in 2003. She was known as the only elephant to walk backward in the exhibit, keepers said.

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) released a statement Friday demanding the Zoo Safari Park close its elephant exhibit along with other animal facilities.

"PETA is concerned that warning signs of internal conflict within the zoo's artificial herd were ignored by zoo staff and that Umoya's death, which has left her two babies orphaned, may have been preventable," the organization said in a written release.

The zoo has been considering sending some of its elephants to a zoo in Tucson, Ariz. to help diversity the elephant population.

Umoya gave birth to the calf Emanti in May 2010, one of four males born at the park that year.

The park recently announced one of it six gorillas had died. Alberta had spent nearly its entire life at the park and was handraised by staff. She was found dead on Friday, Oct. 14.

Courtesy of klsdad

'Boy your sure have to hand it to the "politically correct word spin doctor's," they are at the top of their game. When an elephant, whale, etc. attacks a human it is known as an "accident". When they attack another animal or member of their species it is known as an "aggressive interaction." The key word is "aggressive". Folks have a hard time imagining an animal expressing that emotion towards a human, for anything other then self defense against the devils span, an animal trainer.

Hey peta, "Umoya's death, which has left her two babies orphaned!!!" THEY DIDN'T GIVE A SHIT, "Her calves, Phakamile and Emanti also stood by her side momentarily, but were led away by other elephants in the herd."

For the rest of you "they are unworldly, different then any animal on the planet, almost human"folks, "Elephants in the park were given time to mourn Umoya Thursday afternoon, as elephants in the wild are known to mourn their dead, according to the zoo’s blog." SOME", not all, "SOME elephants touched her with their trunks, or stood next to her quietly" while others walked away(see above.)

Has anybody not observed the same action/behavior in a herd of cattle? A herd of horses? Or any other animal for that matter. Momentary curiosity, followed by a shrug of the shoulders, get on with life reaction. The shame is we should be able to save and preserve this remarkable creature without all the hype,bullshit, and embellishment. Facts are like a bun. Hard to swallow plain. But put sugar on it and you have a donut. Folks will eat that up, and the donation money will flow like water.'