Injured
elephant keeper returns to Taronga Zoo
THE
woman keeper crushed by a two-year-old elephant at Taronga Zoo last October has
returned to work following a full recovery and an inves...
A
SPIKE in testosterone and two female elephants on heat are the likely reason a
baby elephant pinned its trainer against a pole, says Taronga Zoo.
The
findings of an investigation into the elephant attack which nearly crushed zoo
keeper Lucy Melo to death last October were made public today.
Acting
general manager of research and conservation, Dr Rebecca Spindler, said neither
the zoo or the trainer or the elephant calf Pathi Harn had been at fault.
"We've
confirmed two of our female elephants were coming into estrus at roughly the
same time," Dr Spindler told reporters at the zoo.
"More
surprising is that when we examined Pathi Harn's testosterone, he went through
a spike in testosterone that day that was higher than any of our males,
including our adult male."
Dr
Spindler said the two-year-old calf had developed at a faster rate than most
baby elephants.
"Pathi
Harn, we now know, is a very unusual elephant," she said.
"He's
developed much more quickly than anyone could have expected.
"It's
entirely possible this spike in testosterone contributed to the sudden changes
in behaviour we saw that day."
She
said it appeared Pathi Harn had no ill will towards his trainer.
"We're
not sure if the two females and the spike in testosterone caused him to act
that way, but it was out of the ordinary for Pathi Harn and even for elephants
his age to have those levels of testosterone."
Most
elephants do not display any indications of testosterone until they are four
years old, Dr Spindler said.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment
You only need to enter your comment once! Comments will appear once they have been moderated. This is so as to stop the would-be comedian who has been spamming the comments here with inane and often offensive remarks. You know who you are!