Planckendael’s newborn elephant in “critical condition”

The condition of a long-awaited baby elephant born at Planckendael animal park in Mechelen on Tuesday evening is “critical”, according to the park’s spokesperson. The male elephant, known as Baby Q, was said to be having trouble standing up as well as suffering from dehydration.

The elephant’s mother, May Tagu, gave birth after a 605-day pregnancy. The father already has a daughter: Kai-Mook was born at Antwerp Zoo in 2009 and now lives at Planckendael.  She is the half-sister of the new elephant calf.

The elephant keepers explained that May Tagu is a mother for the first time, and her inexperience complicated the baby’s first hours. “Normally, the mother helps her baby to stand up, but May Tagu hasn’t done that,” explained zookeeper Ben Van Dyck. “It’s very important that a newborn stand within five hours so it can feed from the mother.”

Staff have decided to separate the elephant from his mother so that they can feed him elephant milk to help him gain strength. He will be returned to his mother and the other elephants as soon as he is strong enough.

The elephant temple at Planckendael is currently closed to the public to allow the elephants to rest. “The next few hours are going to be critical,” said Van Dyck.

Photo courtesy Planckendael