| Show can baby elephant born in captivity survive asks science as birth nears by RICHARD A KELLY released by western newspaper union CHICAGO ILL natural ats IMS have their eyes turned toward brookfield zoo near chicago for there some time during august or september a baby elephant is expected to be born this is a big event not only because of the principals involved but because it may provide the answer to a riddle that has puzzled scientists for generations will the baby pachyderm thus born in captivity live and be successfully reared to adulthood never before in the united states has a baby elephant survived ancy so as the keepers at the bip p are preparing the colossal ob ethical etri cal ward for nancy a buxom five ton ceylonese elephant scientists are asking each other what are the chances of her offspring growing up into a fine strapping pachyderm based on experience tables these chances seem rather dim four times before in history in this country a female elephant has labored and brought forth young four times did she attempt to murder her calf and then savagely refuse to nurse it four times did the baby jumbos die after a short and pathetic existence the mother in each of these cases was princess alice an elephantine ph antine trouper with the sells flo to circus of a generation ago tragic jinx but will the tragic jinx that followed princess alice also pursue nancy not necessarily says robert bean curator of mammals at the brookfield zoo in the case of the previous tour four births he said because the same mother bore all four calves it is possible that she was an exception which might not occur again she evidently had some idiosyncrasy that made motherhood murderously distasteful to her her experience does not necessarily mean that all female elephants would behave the same way it is a matter of record that one elephant calf was born and successfully reared in a berlin germany zoo the same thing might occur at the brookfield zoo it is well known however that some species of elephants do not reproduce in captivity because of the extreme rarity of elephant births ad their air reaction cannot be predicted nancy unlike her predecessor princess alice is a docile animal she is only 24 years old or much younger than alice we are preparing to take every precaution to prevent accidents from marring a successful birth nancy will be given every encouragement possible to be a normal mother she will not be separated from the other elephants unless it becomes absolutely necessary we hope that accustomed surroundings roun dings will have a calming effect and induce nancy to assume her motherly duties toward her baby at once T if she refuses however the little calf will be fed cows milk we believe this will be a successful dietary procedure if the young elephant is closely watched for adverse effects ff acts so in the weeks to come the answer will be found to the question whether a baby elephant can survive v infancy in america if the answer is yes then a new trend will begin but if the answer is no then the story of princess alice may be repeated that story made newspaper headlines before and during the world war it was immortalized in a chapter in bene fowlers book timberline first in united states it was on a spring afternoon in 1912 near the close of the matinee that princess alice delivered the first baby elephant ever born in america fred allspaw Ali the circus elephant trainer and his aides were midwives As a precaution during labor they pulled a burlap sack over her eyes but once the infant was born things began to happen the nearness of humans enraged the mother writes fowler she lowered her great head flexed her wrinkled knees and then rolled upon her baby with intent to kill allspaw tried to reassure her to implore alice to rise of her own free will her answer was a lashing blow of th the trunk knocking the trainer a full 20 feet across the sawdust floor she had shaken off the burlap blinder glimpsing her pound son afresh and renewing the murderous attack attendants used wooden bars as levers to pry her heaving belly from the squealing newcomer they applied elephant hooks to her defiant trunk and brought other persuasive instruments into play finally the hysterical mother rear reared ed to fight off the men and now they dragged the bewildered half buffo bated calf to safety he stood as though puzzled by a world which greeted strangers with such sudden ugly brutality description of calf the calf relates mr fowler looked like a fatigued anteater ant eater was pink all over and had a trunk six inches long black hairs bristled from his blushing hide he was 24 inches high and 36 from tip to tau tail and had an orphans home personality zoologists everywhere were concerned with the youngsters future the mother refused to nurse it she attempted to kill it when it approached pro ached the baby was fed a mix IWO rm I 1 I 1 X upper photo shows hows a group M of if children en n a visit 1 with biti their ay favorite amorite zoo 1 1 friend ri end the elephant le right this is nany nim cy about whom naturalists natura list lists s are speculating 1 I A regarding r the 1 care she ie will ivill 11 ll give give i her ter prospective offspring ff spring no baby elephant in 1 14 previous history in the united states fates has survived ture of jersey milk and condensed milk from a bottle two months after birth it fell ill and died an autopsy revealed a putty like substance in the large intestines indicating digestive faults three times more within six years was this tragic story repeated each time princess alice tried to crush her infant to death and each ti time me attendants were able to save the call calf after a tremendous battle all oi of the baby elephants died within a few weeks from the same cause digestive disturbances event attracts attention twenty two years have passed since the birth and death of the last baby elephant in america thus in terest inevitably centers on nancys approaching accouchement at the brookfield zoo whether it lives or not nancys baby will be the hugest ever born at the zoo although a hippopotamus weighs pounds its offspring weigh less than 50 an elephant calf tips the scales close to pounds and stands about three feet high will the newcomer be a boy or girl it will soon be possible to tell according to mr bean elephant births have been recorded from 17 to 22 months after conception study has revealed that 9 out of 10 female calves are born in 19 months 9 out of 10 males in 20 months hence a female would be due some time in august A male some time in september |
