Zoo in bid to console ‘sad’ elephant
An animal behaviourist has been called in to help Lammie the elephant as she mourns the death of her friend Kinkel‚ who died at the Johannesburg Zoo this week.
Nonhlanhla Sifumba‚ MMC for community development in Joburg‚ said on Thursday that zoo authorities were conducting a postmortem to determine the cause of Kinkel’s death.
The 35-year-old male elephant died on Tuesday morning after falling ill on Monday.
“Kinkel shared an enclosure with a female elephant‚ Lammie‚ who turned 39 in August this year. She has not taken the situation very well‚ as elephants are very social animals‚” said Sifumba.
“On Monday‚ she was seen trying to help Kinkel get up. She refused to eat on Tuesday. Alice‚ her zoo keeper‚ suspects that she was aware that something was wrong. Elephants are known to grieve. We know that she trumpets whenever she is happy. We are not sure how she will express her emotions in this situation.
“An animal behaviourist will monitor and work closely with Lammie to assist her during this stressful time.
“Staff who looked after Kinkel and work in the section will also receive counselling as they are emotional about this sudden loss.” Kinkel‚ who was born in the wild but taken to the zoo after hurting his trunk in a poacher’s snare‚ was popular with visitors. –