Feel Good Story! Follow-Up on 2010 Miracle Elephant Birth at Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia

I was doing something totally unrelated (sort of - elephants are ALWAYS related to chess because of the game's ancient origins, both in one of the pieces (the Elephant, which became the Rook in some places in modern Indian chess and evolved into the Bishop in western chess), and the fact that early gaming pieces were often carved out of elephant tusks, when I came across this 2010 blog entry.

It was what started out as a tragic story of a 22-months long pregnancy that ended in a dead baby elephant, trapped inside its mother's womb and birth canal because it was a "feet first" delivery.  The veterinarians had determined there was no way for them to be able to turn the baby to try to deliver it, and a Caesarian section birth was determined to be too risky to the mother elephant.  But lo and behold, two days after the death of the fetus had been announced as determined by an ultrasound that did not detect a fetal heart beat, very early in the morning one of the zoo keepers doing a routine check on the elephants discovered that the mother elephant, Porntip, had not only been delivered after six days of hard labor, but the calf was alive!

See the second story listed, containing  citations to several articles about the declared death of the unborn baby elephant and its subsequent miracle birth, under "Isis Interregnum" posted in 2010.  You can find some early photos of the miracle baby elephant from later in March, 2010 at Zoo Borns. 

So happy to report that the little male "calf that could," whom zookeepers named "Mr. Shuffles" after he was born because he had a little trouble getting his gait straight at first, was named Pathi Harn (meaning "Miracle") after a naming contest and is now 9 years old!  

He's led a very interesting life thus far.  In October 2012 when he was just 2 1/2 years old, he pinned a female zoo keeper against a post, severely injuring her.  Interestingly, the injured zoo keeper explained in a later interview what had happened and it appears that she did not blame the "challenge" to any malice or bad behavior on the part of Pathi Harn.  Crushed Taronga Zoo Elephant Keeper Reveals Her Ordeal (November 23, 2012).  

In 2014, Pathi Harn along with his mother, Porntip, her sister elephant, Thong Dee, and Pathi Harn's bosom buddy, Luk Chai, another young male Asian elephant born a few months before he was, were transferred to a sister zoo in Dubbo from Taronga Zoo in Sydney.  The article disclosed that after the crushing incident of the zookeeper in 2012, tests done on Pathi Harn revealed an unusually high level of testosterone in his system. Taronga Zoo to relocate Four Asian Elephants to Dubbo to Ease Overcrowding (July 24, 2014).  

Senior elephant keeper Lucy Melo pictured back at work with Pathi Harn, the young male that pinned her to a pole. Picture: Jo Clow

Asian male elephants typically don't enter puberty until between 8 and 13 years of age according to this article from the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute:

Male elephants typically leave the herd when they reach puberty, between the ages of 8 and 13. This is often a gradual process, driven by the males' competitive and independent nature and the females' lack of tolerance for their aggressive behavior. Young males tend to form loose bachelor herds, sometimes following female herds or foraging alone. As males age, they typically become more competitive and spend more time alone.

Reproduction and Development

Wild males and females reach sexual maturity between 8 and 13 years of age. Females usually have their first birth in their mid-teens. Behavioral studies tell us that males are unlikely to father a calf until they are in their 30s, when they are best able to compete with older, larger males. By about the age of 30, most healthy males begin to experience a regular period of heightened sexual and aggressive activity called musth.

Musth is a massive rush of testosterone that makes males aggressive and competitive. It also makes them especially attractive to females in estrus. 

Now that is interesting.  It so happens that on the day the female zookeeper's authority was "challenged" by Pathi Horn, he had had an encounter with an older female elephant who happened to be in estrus.  It seems difficult to believe that at only 2 1/2 years of age he would be going into puberty, but what else explains the rush of testosterone in his system that led to his challenging and aggressive behavior toward both the older female elephant and his female zookeeper?  

Porntip, Pathi Harn's mom, gave birth to her second calf, a female, in June 2018:  "Elephant Calf Birth Heralds Future Breeding Success." 

I expect at some point, if I remember to check, I'll be reading a story about Pathi Horn fathering his first calf!  

Isis Interregnum

Isis sends the following links to interesting news stories:

1,000-Year-Old Massacre Uncovered in England
By Rossella Lorenzi
Fri Mar 12, 2010 02:31 PM ET
A macabre and forgotten episode from the Dark Ages has been uncovered by British researchers after they examined dozens of beheaded skeletons.

Mystery surrounded the identity of the victims since they were discovered by accident last June near Weymouth, Dorset, England, when workers at a 2012 building site, stumbled across a burial pit.

The grave contained a mass of bones and 51 skulls neatly stacked in a pile.

*********************************************************************

Motherhood Takes a Blessed Turn at the Taronga Zoo (Sydney, Australia)

Things are really crappy out there in the world right now, but this is a great feel good story.  The elephant piece in Chaturanga - Chatrang - Shatranj (and let us not forget Xiang Qi which some call "Elephant Game") is the venerable ancestor of the Bishop in western chess.  Elephants pods are governed by the oldest females - a matriarchal society. Goddesschess holds elephants in very high regard.

It all started out with this sad story:

A mother's heavy burden as baby elephant dies
DEBORAH SMITH
March 9, 2010
PERHAPS the other female elephants could tell that things were going seriously wrong.

Early on Sunday morning, when Taronga Zoo's 18-year-old Asian elephant, Porntip, was in the deepest throes of labour, their behaviour suddenly changed and they lost interest in the birth.

A day later, the keepers and veterinarians providing round-the-clock care to the first-time mother reached the sad conclusion that her baby had died after a difficult and protracted labour.

The zoo's senior vet, Larry Vogelnest, said the calf had presented in an ''upside-down'' position never seen by vets before, which made birth impossible.

Its front feet were coming first, and its heavy head was pulled down by gravity, trapped up against the pelvis.
A caesarean section on a 3000-kilogram elephant was never an option, because of the very high risks.

''And there is very little we can do to manipulate the calf,'' said Dr Vogelnest, adding that the 100-kilogram baby was surrounded by another 150 kilograms of fluid and tissue.

****************************************************************

Elephant mum 'told' herd baby had died
MILES GODFREY
March 9, 2010
It was the dead of night, the baby's heart had stopped and all those present knew it only too well. A low subsonic rumble, entirely inaudible to human ears, drifted out across Sydney Harbour, heralding the tragic news.

Nobody quite knows the exact message communicated.

No one quite knows the emotions it contained.

But it is certain that when an unborn baby elephant at a Sydney zoo died last Sunday, the rest of its herd instantly knew and fully understood what had happened.

Amazingly, the group of six elephants would have heard the baby's heartbeat stop - even though it was still inside its mother, a leading elephant breeding expert says.

The calf's death at Taronga Zoo is a tragic blow to Australia's fledgling breeding and conservation program. But it offers a rare insight into the psychology and physiology of these highly intelligent creatures, some aspects of which we still don't fully understand.

*****************************************************************

Alive and kicking: the 100kg miracle they'll never forget

DEBORAH SMITH, SCIENCE EDITOR
March 11, 2010

HE is set to rewrite the textbooks.

Sydney's ''miracle'' Asian elephant calf, born alive two days after he was declared dead in the womb, is the first elephant known to have survived such a protracted and difficult labour as his mother, Porntip, underwent.

He apparently confounded his keepers and veterinarians - and fellow elephants - by going into a coma during the nine-day ordeal.

The newborn was showing encouraging signs of doing well yesterday, following his surprise arrival at Taronga Zoo at 3.27 am, but was still under round-the-clock intensive care in the heated elephant barn.

****************************************************************

Taronga's 'miracle' elephant 'doing well'
DEBORAH SMITH
March 11, 2010
The "miracle" Asian elephant calf who was born alive after he was believed to have died in his mother’s womb is making good progress today.

The calf, who was monitored by the zoo's keepers throughout the night and today weighed 116 kilograms, has started to suckle from his mother, Porntip, without help and tried to run.