elephant birth

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caseycat

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Why are captive elephants chained up when giving birth?
Just watching The Zoo and i really felt for the elephant, that she couldn't move about during her labour or get to her calf until the keepers had pulled him out the way and then checked him over.
 
caseycat said:
Why are captive elephants chained up when giving birth?
Just watching The Zoo and i really felt for the elephant, that she couldn't move about during her labour or get to her calf until the keepers had pulled him out the way and then checked him over.
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because humans think they need to control everything and worry that mother nature will get it wrong and the cow will harm/kill the calf-or thats what they narrator said in the programme i watched
 
Ah yes of course, humans must be in control at all times. If we are that good why don't we sort out this blasted weather!
 
I reckon she would have slipped otherwise and potentially killed the calf. Why didn't they put her own grass/straw? Baby was out slippy and quick! She was sliding everywhere, hence the team ran in and slid him out of the way.
 
cinnamontoast said:
I reckon she would have slipped otherwise and potentially killed the calf. Why didn't they put her own grass/straw? Baby was out slippy and quick! She was sliding everywhere, hence the team ran in and slid him out of the way.
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This^^ straw would have been much better and im sure the elephant would have managed on her own, mother nature at its best, Its a while since i watched it but didnt they put her in the chains and that shed for a few weeks before the birth- maybe incase anything did go wrong they could get in and help without having to restrain her?
 
Platypus that last bit makes sense, i suppose if there was a problem, it would not have been safe for the keepers to go in and help her, that's an awful lot of distressed animal to cope with.
 
The chains could have been looser though, her poor face you could see she wanted to move - and what about the support that female relatives are supposed to provide when elephants give birth. She must have been in quite a bit of distress really, on her own like that, sliding about on her amniotic fluid. And the male keepers showed only that they care about controlling the animal and there was no compassion at all towards making her comfortable and her birth as stress free as possible.

Actually, all in all I thought that programme did ZSL very little favours at all. Why in this country are performing animals not allowed in circuses, yet the elephants at Whipsnade perform for the visitors? In an earlier programme they had sealions performing as well . . . double standards somewhere I think.

Also, while the head of reptiles really did seem to have compassion for his animals - how come they didn't know where to look for the Komodo eggs - surely they should have been able to see if the surface of the enclosure had been disturbed by the female dragon digging a big hole to lay eggs in?
 
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