Porntip, whose 'dead baby' was born alive. Picture Jeff Darmanin
Vets are describing it as a ‘true miracle’ – a baby elephant declared dead in its mother’s womb has been born alive at a Sydney Zoo.
The baby male elephant came into the world at Taronga Zoo during the night after vets and keepers had declared two days earlier that he had died because there had been no signs of life.
Added to their belief was the knowledge that the baby was upside down in the womb of its mother, Porntip, and its position had left it crushed.
Ultrasound images had shown that it would have been impossible for the mother to deliver a live baby.
But in an extraordinary announcement the zoo announced that the male calf had been born alive in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
The name of the mother, an Asian elephant brought to the zoo from a Thailand forest work camp, means ‘Gift from Heaven’. It could not be more appropriate.
‘Porntip’s dedicated keepers reported the amazing news early this morning that the calf had been born and was showing signs of life,’ said zoo director Cameron Kerr.
‘Taronga Zoo’s veterinary team immediately rushed to the elephant to assist Porntip and the calf.’
For six days before the incredible birth when Porntip began intensive labour, keepers and veterinarians had not been able to establish any of the five vital signs that would have indicated the calf was still alive.
Even Dr Thomas Hildebrandt, the zoo’s senior veterinarian and a world-leading expert on elephant births, declared just last Monday that it would be a miracle if the calf was born alive.
Despite his jubilation at the live birth, he warned: ‘While this is incredible news, the young calf still has a long way to go.
‘There are no guarantees of its long-term survival at this early stage but we hope that its birth against the odds will stand it in good stead.’
Even the other elephants in the zoo appeared to have given up hope that the baby would be born alive.
While they had shown interest in Porntip during labour, they eventually began moving away from her – a sign that they knew something was wrong.
But it seemed that Porntip was determined she was going to help her ‘upside down’ baby – she was seen on several occasions trying to stand on her head, as if trying to turn the baby around.
Vets said that they believed her acrobatics had helped the baby’s position to some extent because the calf had turned slightly in the womb, but its position still prevented a live birth. Or so they all thought.
They suggested that Porntip would carry dead calf in her womb for several months before she could deliver it.
But circumstances have changed dramatically. Now everyone is praying that the baby elephant will pull through the early days and grow up to be as big, healthy and adorable as his mother.
* See my story in the Daily Mail: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1256801/Baby-elephant-declared-dead-stuns-animal-experts-born-alive.html
