“We are all stunned” – Leipzig Zoo mourns the loss of young elephant Kiran

Three days ago, the young bull elephant Kiran suddenly looked sickly, then he seemed to recover. Now he died unexpectedly. The zoo is puzzled as to why.

Leipzig Zoo brings sad news from the elephant house. “Our elephant bull Kiran is dead,” the zoo wrote on Facebook. The young elephant died unexpectedly on Friday night. Employees found him lying in the stable in the middle of the herd in the morning. “We are all stunned,” said a message on the website.

Kiran has been under veterinary surveillance since he first showed signs of illness three days ago. The cub, born in January 2020, seemed slightly battered and showed little appetite. Then the little elephant was given medication and it looked like he was on the mend.

Thursday he appeared fitter again

“Yesterday he showed no major abnormalities and even went swimming with the other elephants,” said zoo director Jörg Junhold, according to the announcement. “We cannot yet explain the rapid deterioration in his health and the cause of his death.”

In the past few months, Kiran has actually developed satisfactorily, the zoo continued. He was well integrated into the herd, which was expanded to include animals from Berlin in 2020, and has now weighed almost 500 kilograms. The sudden loss is all the more difficult now.

Kiran’s mother said goodbye in the morning

Kiran’s mother Rani and the elephant cows Don Chung and Thuza spent the night with him and said goodbye in the morning hours. A pathological examination has now been initiated to clarify the cause of death.

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