Hopes Fade for Elephant Birth at Wild Animal Park

When Jean, an Asian elephant at the Wild Animal Park, was confirmed pregnant nearly two years ago, San Diego Zoo officials rejoiced.

The zoo had recently lost its only other Asian elephant born in captivity when the adult Connie delivered a stillborn calf. Only three of five calves born to the zoo’s

African elephants in the early 1980s survived past infancy.

Few zoos even attempt elephant breeding.

Most zoos are not eager to house male elephants because of their size and sometimes-explosive temperament. Timing is also tricky; if males and females are put together at the wrong moment, they fight rather than mate.

It was hoped that Jean’s baby, her first, would signal a turnaround for the San Diego Zoo’s elephant-breeding program.

But now the wait for Jean to deliver is becoming increasingly worrisome.

The 19-year-old elephant has been taken to a special maternity pen at the Wild Animal Park, a “Jean Team” of elephant keepers is keeping a 24-hour vigil, and veterinarians are on call. The 8,000-pounder is being given medication to assist her contractions.

Average gestation for an Asian elephant is 615 to 668 days. Jean is thought to be at 712 to 717 days, although an Asian elephant at a zoo in Germany delivered at more than 720 days.

San Diego Zoo officials admit being stymied by Jean’s size and thickness of skin.

A Cesarean is considered too risky. There are no needles long enough to do an amniocentesis to determine if the fetus is alive. An EKG and ultrasound were inconclusive.

A team of experts assembled by the zoo’s Center for the Reproduction of Endangered Species is considering options for Jean and her 200-pound fetus.

“We’ve arrived at the conclusion that there is only a slim chance for a living fetus,” Wild Animal Park spokesman Tom Hanscom said. “Optimism is waning but we’ve not given up hope.”

A Special, Just for Spies

Fallout from the Soviet arts festival.

* The FBI’s espionage warning continues to provoke guffaws.

At B. Dalton bookstore in Mission Valley, a sign promoting “A Guide to San Diego Military Ships and Planes” advises: “Regular Price $7.95. Price for Soviet Spies $8.95.”

* The mayor and the clown.

Yes, that was Maureen O’Connor and Moscow Circus performer Alexander Frish having a late-night supper at the Panda Inn restaurant in Horton Plaza. Frish doused diners with confetti.

He had already carpeted the downtown fire station with confetti, much to the surprise of firefighters, who normally like their floor to be operating-table clean.

* Ronald Knapp, the Gorbachev look-alike whose mug was mistakenly published in the festival’s educational guide, will be at the Hard Rock Cafe in La Jolla at 10 o’clock tonight.

Knapp will share the spotlight with Soviet rock band Vladimir Kuzmin and Dinamik. “I’m a perestroika animal,” assures Knapp.

Divine Intervention?

At the last moment, the Rev. Nicholas Dempsey, associate pastor at Mission San Diego de Alcala, decided to abandon the detailed itinerary for his San Francisco vacation and board a tour boat on the bay.

That was at 5 p.m. Oct. 17. A few minutes later, as the boat crossed under the Golden Gate Bridge, Dempsey knew something was terribly wrong back on land.

“The water got very choppy, we could see smoke rising from San Francisco, and the smell of gas was very strong,” Dempsey said. “The boat operator was talking about the 1906 quake when this one struck. My friends from Scotland were very confused.”

Dempsey is still not sure why he decided to take the bay cruise, which put him out of harm’s way when the killer earthquake struck at 5:04. But he’s thinking about it.

The message of his sermon last Sunday: the role of fate in our lives.

“God has a plan for all of us,” Dempsey said, “but it’s not always clear what it is.”