149kg foetus removed
2006-06-09 11:35
New York - A team of doctors removed a dead 149kg calf from the womb of a 29-year-old Asian elephant stalled in labour for four days.
Staff at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo were walking Romani around in the elephant barn about 30 minutes after the four-hour long surgery on Thursday to widen her birth canal, an operation similar to a human episiotomy, said zoo spokesperson Sarah Fedele.
"Her vital signs are very good," said Fedele.
"It's disappointing that her calf did not survive," Fedele said. "But there's a big feeling of relief here that Romani is doing well."
The female calf, meanwhile, was taken to the Cornell University veterinary school for a necropsy. Doctors will try to determine when the calf died and why it became trapped inside the birth canal, she said. One theory is that one of its knees became bent, Fedele said.
Romani had carried the calf for nearly two years and was three weeks past the "due" date calculated by zoo staff.
Romani was put under 24-hour watch on Monday night after veterinarians tried to induce labour with hormone shots two nights in a row. Even with the injections, the elephant's contractions weren't long enough or strong enough to deliver the calf.
Romani had three previous successful births - 1991, 1995 and 2002 - although labour was induced in each case.
While the episode unfolded, zoo officials were unable to tell if the calf was alive or not. Normal foetal monitoring does not work for elephants, making it difficult to determine the condition of the foetus. They knew, though, that the longer they waited, the greater the risk to both foetus and mother.
On Wednesday, zoo staff saw Romani's white blood cell count increase and became concerned about a possible infection. It was decided to try surgery.
Over the past decade, the operation was previously conducted on elephants in North America seven other times, with six of the mothers surviving, Fedele said. She did not know if any of the calves survived.
On the net:
www.rosamondgiffordzoo.org
- AP