Elephant herd grieves for baby who died of a heart defect

This is the moving moment a grieving herd of elephants said their goodbyes to a little calf who tragically died of a serious heart defect. Baby Lola was due to be the world’s first elephant to have heart surgery to remove a blood clot.



But the three-month-old calf sadly passed away on Saturday during a preliminary CT scan. Keepers at Hellabrunn Zoo in Munich decided to return the baby’s body to the elephant enclosure so mum Panang, 22, could grieve in peace.

The rest of the herd then took it in turns to nuzzle the animal’s lifeless body. Lola’s death will come as a blow to the staff at the zoo, who had all been charmed by the baby elephant.

Lola in happier times.

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Speaking last week, zoo director Andreas Knieriem said: “The specialists say that this very difficult operation is Lola’s only hope, so we must do it. We have all fallen for her.”