# Our Baby Elephant Died **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 8, 2004, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-baby-elephant-died/278775 "2004-12-08T17:54:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-baby-elephant-died/278775/21 "2004-12-09T22:30:06Z")
Thanks for taking the time to find the links, **sternvogel** 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-baby-elephant-died/278775/22 "2004-12-09T22:59:45Z")
All this talk, talk, talk, and no one has yet linked to an [adorable baby animals](http://www.acclaimstockphotography.com/_gallery/_print_terms/baby_animal.html) page?! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-baby-elephant-died/278775/23 "2004-12-10T04:32:06Z")
Awwwww… This has been very informative for me. I’ve learned a lot about elephants in the last couple of days. I didn’t know that they were considered the smartest things on four legs, I didn’t know that herds were made up only of females, I didn’t know just how social they are and how complex their socializing is. What amazing creatures. ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Macphisto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b487fb/32.png) [@Ms\_Macphisto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Macphisto)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-baby-elephant-died/278775/24 "2004-12-10T05:46:10Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > I love elephants. and penguins. > The Detroit Zoo tried to do something very humane and without outside urging. > They decided to ‘retire’ them to the > [Elephant Sanctuary](http://www.elephants.com) \* down in Tennessee. It made me swell with pride about my zoo and for the elephants. > > Elephants in the wild walk more than 30 miles a day. Realizing that their space at the zoo was just not big enough ( and bigger than alot of zoos) the Detroit Zoo decided to send them to ES. > > The American Zoological Assoc. decided to intervene for reasons I am not totally clear on and not only stopped the retirement of the pair, but seperated them. > > They are now in two seperate zoos and even Jane Goodall has critizied the AZA. > Bastards. > > If I had the time I would find the links. > > \*Read the bios of the elephants. I command you. After much public pressure, the Greater Vancouver Zoo (known as the Vancouver Game Farm until ~10 years ago, to give you some idea of the place) sent its elephant, [Tina](http://www.elephants.com/tina/tina_inmemory.htm), to the Sanctuary in Tennessee in 2003. She was kept alone in a small enclosure with a hard surface at the zoo, so she had chronic foot infections and some weird behaviours from being alone all the time (most notably, constant head bobbing). The zoo at least recognized that these were problems that had to be dealt with, but they originally planned to send her to some sketchy zoo in Ontario. People protested, and eventually she got sent to the sanctuary, but she died this past summer, not quite one year after arriving at the sanctuary. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![the\_Lady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bb73d2/32.png) [@the\_Lady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_Lady)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-baby-elephant-died/278775/25 "2004-12-10T14:34:12Z")
I missed this thread earlier - It was really awful when the baby died. I know that zoos aren’t the best place for animals, but the Calgary Zoo really does do a very good job of making sure its animals have the best care and lifestyle that they possibly can. These animals aren’t living in little tiny metal cages - it is a wonderful facility. From all I’ve learned lately on the news, it is unfotunately quite common for a mother to reject a baby born in captivity. The baby’s mother was even rejected when she was born. Apparently, the baby’s aunt was showing some interest, and the Zoo was hopefuly she would be helpful in the future to socialize the baby, but her health problems were simply to great to overcome. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-baby-elephant-died/278775.md?page=1)