Melbourne Zoo Melbourne Zoo news 2016

Another day, another update on the elephant calf.

Updates here: Asian Elephant Calf Update | Zoos Victoria

Melbourne Zoo’s Head Vet Dr. Michael Lynch says that the calf’s condition remains critical: ‘Keeping her nutrition up is our current major concern.’

Dr. Lynch says that the calf continues to suckle poorly, so achieving adequate milk intake has been challenging. Two litres of equine blood plasma were administered today via her intravenous drip in an effort to boost her protein intake. Muscle weakness of her hind limbs is becoming an increasingly worrying issue, and hourly physiotherapy continues in an effort to assist in maintaining strength.

Trail of the Elephants Manager Dominic Moss says that the bond between the calf and her mother Num-Oi continues to be strong.

‘We had a very good social session today, with Num-Oi being very attentive. She was touching the calf all over with her trunk, very lightly – so gentle!’

Dominic says that Num-Oi was very cooperative with the milking today, and Keepers were able to get about two litres of her milk to mix with the artificial elephant milk formula, on a 20/80 ratio.

The entire team is prioritising maintaining that bond between Num-Oi and her calf, as the aim is to get the calf up on her feet and feeding from her mother.
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The calf is now over two weeks old, but it doesn't seem as if there has been much progress (although she is feeding better today).

Updates here: Asian Elephant Calf Update | Zoos Victoria

Melbourne Zoo staff continue to provide 24/7 care to the calf, which has been in critical condition since she was born just over two weeks ago.

The calf was born with a tendon condition in her front legs preventing her from standing, which means she can’t feed from Num-Oi.

She is being given a mixture of milk from her mother Num-Oi and an artificial elephant milk formula, in a 20/80 ratio.

Asian Elephant calves find it difficult to tolerate the artificial formula, but today the calf was more receptive to feeding from the bottle than she was yesterday.

Zoo Vet Dr. Kate Bodley explains that as the calf is not drinking enough from the bottles she still needs to be given both fluid and nutrition through an intravenous drip.

The calf’s tendon problem is being treated with a cast on one front leg and a splint on the other.

Trail of the Elephants Manager Dominic Moss says that the calf and her mother Num-Oi had a social session this morning, which encourages them to retain the mother/calf bond.

The team is aiming to correct the tendon problem so the calf can stand and feed from Num-Oi.

An equine physiotherapist is visiting daily to exercise her legs, to maintain strength and flexibility while the calf is still relatively inactive.

The Zoo’s Vet team will provide updates if the situation changes over the weekend.
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The calf managed to briefly stand unassisted over the weekend, according to the latest update.

Updates here: Asian Elephant Calf Update | Zoos Victoria

Melbourne Zoo Head Vet Dr Michael Lynch says there has been some improvement in the elephant calf’s front legs but she remains in critical care and keeping her nutrition levels up remains a challenge.

Dr Lynch explained that the casts fitted to the calf’s front legs have been removed and she was able to stand unassisted for a short time over the weekend.

The calf continues to undergo intensive physiotherapy to keep up the strength and conditioning in her legs.

Keepers and vets are providing round-the-clock care for the calf in what Dr Lynch described as an amazing team effort involving keepers, vets and staff from the equine clinic and an equine physiotherapist.

Mum Num-Oi continues to show a keen interest in her calf and keepers and vets priority remains to maintain the bond between the pair.
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Two steps forward, one step back - one of the elephant calf's legs has been recast, and she is losing weight.

Updates here: Asian Elephant Calf Update | Zoos Victoria

Melbourne Zoo’s head vet Dr. Michael Lynch says that the three-week-old Asian Elephant calf remains in a critical condition despite some improvement made with correcting her carpal flexures. ‘She has managed to stand up several times on her own, but as we have noticed that the tendon on the left fore leg has been slipping back a bit we have decided to recast that leg.’

The calf is still not bottle feeding reliably and therefore we cannot supply her enough oral nutrition. While she has showed reasonable strength and has been quite settled over the last few days, she is losing weight and if this continues then her health will become very difficult to manage.

‘We have been providing additional fluids and nutrition via an intravenous drip but she has not tolerated the amino acid solutions used to date. We will be trialling another nutritional solution from tomorrow morning which we hope she will tolerate well.’

Trail of the Elephants Manager Dominic Moss says that Keepers continue to be able to milk Num-Oi, so her milk can be mixed with the artificial formula for her bottle feeds.

In addition to benefiting the calf nutritionally, milking Num-Oi is also helpful in maintaining her milk flow, given the aim of getting the calf up on her feet and suckling from her mother.

He explains that the team continues to place a high priority on socialising the calf, with daily sessions when the calf and her mother can interact.

‘We have also held one session when we let all the herd come through to get a closer look at the calf. They all came over and said hello to the calf, and they were close enough to touch her if they chose to, which some but not all did.

‘Yesterday we took Num-Oi and her companion Kulab out to the deep pool near the Community Hall, so they had a good swim.’
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UGH.

Just break the new protocol, slap some leg tethers on her, go free contact with Num-Oi (its not like its been that long anyway), and get that damn calve in with its mother.

I feel at this point, one of the most beneficial moves would be to get the calf nursing from its mother on a more frequent basis, especially if she can stand for periods of time now. Honestly I feel the zoo should prioritise keeping the calf alive and with its mother, as opposed attempting to maintain it completely separate while it continues to struggle and lose weight.
 
Isn't it about time they named the calf, irregardless of it's chances of long term survival? It's almost a month old now.
 
I think the main priority at this moment in time is still focusing on ensuring that the calf's condition improves (well, actually, ensuring that she survives). Naming the calf can come afterwards.
 
New update from July 13th:
While Melbourne Zoo's elephant calf remains in critical condition, Head Veterinarian Dr. Michael Lynch and the team of Veterinarians and Keepers are seeing some encouraging signs in the elephant calf, and they regard the calf as showing a tenacious spirit.

Dr. Lynch says that meeting her nutritional needs is still reliant on use of both intravenous and oral solutions, as her reliability for bottle feeding remains very variable.

The bottles contain a mixture of 80% Asian Elephant milk formula and 20% milk from the calf’s mother, Num-Oi, which is obtained by Keepers who are able to milk her.

The tendon problem the calf was born with which has prevented her from standing to suckle from her mother is still being treated, with a series of leg casts designed to relax the tendons and allow her to place her front feet firmly on the ground.
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Went to Melbourne Zoo today, first visit for several months. The weather was perfect, but the zoo looked rather tired and the few things to report are mostly minor and negative, unfortunately:

-Saw the two young red pandas and a baby wombat, all very cute.
-Despite signs on maps, there is not yet any renovation in the big cat area, and the snow leopards, tigers and bear are still on display.
-Despite signs on maps, the bongo enclosure has been demolished and the species is no longer on show. Sad, but not surprising. The giraffe and zebra enclosure has been extended to partially cover the old exhibit I think.
-In the Australian section, the larger aviary pair has been combined, and now holds blue-winged kookaburra, bush stone-curlew and tawny frogmouth, with no gang gang cockatoos.
-There is no longer a kangaroo/wallaby walkthrough, with most of the area fenced off and just a small viewing pathway now overlooking the Kangaroo Island kangaroos. I didn't see any sign of other macropod species or Emu.
-There is much "temporary" fencing throughout the African and South-East Asian Rainforest sections, apparently just to keep people on the paths. This looks terrible and eliminates the immersion aesthetic.
-In Treetops Monkeys, the tree kangaroos and echidnas have been removed (neither on show anywhere) and have been replaced with spider monkeys (which now occupy two adjacent exhibits).
-A large concrete pad has been poured between Treetops and the Elephant Village, where a new "holding site for some of our animals" is being built.
-The second aviary in the Asian Rainforest was empty, while the smaller one between the elephant paddocks has been demolished. Now that the fourth aviary holds the silhouette of a sleeping binturong, this section has just the one aviary.
-The elephant barn was blocked off to give the calf privacy, and two elephants were waiting near the barn in the adjacent paddock while the rest of the herd was more spread out. The bull and oldest male calf were together, and very boisterous.
 
What does removal of some of the marsupial species (kangaroo, tree kangaroo, echidnas) mean for Melbourne Zoo exhibits.
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
What does removal of some of the marsupial species (kangaroo, tree kangaroo, echidnas) mean for Melbourne Zoo exhibits.
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The kangaroos and wallabies are still on exhibit, it's just not a walk through anymore (more of a walk-in). I don't know about the tree kangaroos and echidnas though. I do remember the brief for the next sections of growing wild including tree kangaroos so wouldn't be surprised if they make a reappearance in the future.
 
New update on the elephant calf:

Melbourne Zoo’s Asian Elephant calf remains in a critical condition, requiring round-the-clock intensive care from the Zoo’s team of veterinarians, vet nurses, and keepers.
The calf is currently battling a severe infection which is being treated with antibiotics. The calf has not been drinking enough from the bottled mixture of formula and milk from mum Num-Oi, meaning that the calf has been dependent on both fluids and nutrition being supplied through intravenous drips.
She has been receiving broad spectrum antibiotics as a preventative measure against potential infection, however we have now diagnosed an infection which is unfortunately resistant to those antibiotics and so a new antibiotic is now being administered.
We will continue to keep you updated on her condition. Find more information at zoo.org.au/news/asian-elephant-calf-update
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I applaud and absolutely respect all the effort staff put in given the genetic value of the calf to the program and to have an elephant calf proper in Melbourne.

Just I do not have a "good" feeling on this one (and alas this has been that way since it was born and the early signals were not hopeful).

Keep fingers crossed for the calf.
 
A new update on "Willow": Unfortunately they've had a further set back with her now having developed a serious blood infection

The life of Melbourne Zoo's elephant calf still hangs in the balance, six weeks after it was born.

The baby elephant, named Willow, was born with a never-before-seen medical condition that caused her front feet to curl backwards, leaving her unable to stand.

Despite being in intensive, around-the-clock care since her birth, the Asian elephant calf remains in a critical condition due to an infection and nutritional deficiencies.

Zookeepers' hopes were buoyed when Willow began standing for short periods of time after casts were removed from her front legs three weeks ago.

Her recovery from the infection has not been as rapid as hoped, Melbourne Zoo's head veterinarian Michael Lynch said on Wednesday

The calf is being treated with antibiotics specially formulated to attack the bacterial infection, but her blood tests are still appearing abnormal.

"The infection has been a major setback in her progress, and she is now quite weak," he said.
While there have been some encouraging signs of recovery over the last five days, Dr Lynch said, vets are concerned by the blood test results.

"We are hoping for her to regain her strength once we can get her infection under control," he said.

X-rays and ultrasound images taken on Wednesday suggested the infection had become localised in the calf's chest. The images have been sent to radiologists at the University of Melbourne Veterinary School for a second opinion, Dr Lynch said.

In the meantime, the mixture of antibiotics the calf is currently receiving will be adjusted.

However, the calf's inability to feed from her mother, Num-Oi, has led to nutritional problems.

"We are also challenged with being able to maintain the intravenous drip lines which are critical to providing her with fluids and nourishment," Dr Lynch said.

The calf is being bottle-fed with a mixture of her mother's milk and formula. In addition to being given an intravenous formula containing glucose, lipids and amino acids, she is also being treated with a drip containing saline and glucose.

No documented cases of Willow's leg condition - called Congenital Carpal Flexure - have been recorded in captive elephants, according to Dr Lynch.

Num-Oi arrived at Melbourne Zoo from Thailand in November 2006. Her first calf Sanook died in a tragic accident in 2013, while playing with a hanging tyre in the barn one evening. Sanook was 11 months old.

Willow was conceived through artificial insemination, with sperm from Perth Zoo's elephant Putra Mas.

The zoo announced Num-Oi's pregnancy in November 2014. An Asian elephant's gestation period is between 18 and 22 months.


Melbourne Zoo's baby elephant Willow still critical, with blood-borne infection
 
This is the update from the zoo's Facebook page:

Melbourne Zoo’s Asian Elephant calf is still in intensive care and her condition remains critical.
The calf’s recovery from an infection has not been as rapid as hoped and she has been treated with antibiotics formulated to fight the infection. While there have been some encouraging signs of recovery over the last five days, our vets are concerned that her blood tests still appeared abnormal.
X rays and ultrasound images suggest that the infection has become localised in her chest. These images are being sent to experts at the University of Melbourne Veterinary School for a second opinion and the mixture of antibiotics the calf is currently receiving will be adjusted in the hope of a better response.
Thank you again for your continuous support during this time. Find more information at Asian Elephant Calf Update | Zoos Victoria
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A final update on the elephant calf, which has died.

Statement here: Vale Willow | Zoos Victoria

It is with great sadness that we share with our member family the loss of our Asian Elephant calf, fondly named Willow, who passed away last night.

We have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from members since the calf's birth on June 15 and would like to thank you for all your thoughts during this difficult time. The Melbourne Zoo community is now grieving her loss.

Zoo Director Kevin Tanner says the loss is being felt most of all by the Keepers, Veterinarians, and Vet nurses who have been caring for her in the Elephant Barn 24/7 since she was born.

‘Our team could not have done more for Willow to keep her comfortable while making every possible effort to pull her through.’

The Zoo’s Head Veterinarian, Dr. Michael Lynch, has stated from the beginning that the calf’s condition was critical, that she needed intensive care, and that the outcome of such a complex case was uncertain.

Although the birth itself went smoothly, the calf was born with a congenital flexion of both carpal (wrist) joints preventing her from standing and feeding from her mother Num-Oi, so staff gave her bottles made up of an artificial Asian Elephant milk formula mixed 80/20 with her mother’s milk.

Unfortunately the calf didn’t reliably bottle feed, so she was dependent on intravenous drips for both fluid and nutrition with the hope she could be returned to her mother once her leg problems were resolved.

Treatment for the calf’s carpal flexion was supervised by Dr. Liz Walmsley, from the University of Melbourne’s Equine Centre, as this condition is not uncommon in foals. Under Dr. Walmsley’s guidance Willow’s carpal flexion was resolved over four weeks.

Dr. Lynch and the rest of the Zoo Vet team have led the round-the-clock efforts since the birth, working with dedicated carers including not only the Trail of the Elephants Keepers but also Keepers from other Departments who stepped up to assist in the crisis.

Dr. Lynch explains that Willow contracted a blood infection almost two weeks ago that proved to be very difficult to control: ‘While she showed a good response to antibiotic therapy in her general demeanour, the infection unfortunately localised in her chest and limb bones. It became evident yesterday that the infection in her bones had progressed to a point where lasting damage had occurred.’

Kevin Tanner says that the Zoo’s vet team have greatly appreciated the assistance from colleagues in the wider veterinary community who generously offered their expertise in the massive effort to get the calf up on her feet, back with her mother, and part of the herd.

He says that all Zoo staff have been very grateful for the good wishes that have flowed in from the community since Willow’s birth.

Willow passed away yesterday evening in the Elephant Barn, and her mother Num-Oi has been given the chance to grieve her calf.
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