CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SAN DIEGO : Dead Elephant Fetus Taken by Cesarean

Veterinarians at the San Diego Wild Animal Park performed the first-ever Cesarean section on an elephant, removing a dead fetus from an Asian pachyderm that had been pregnant for more than two years. Surgeons spent 5 1/2 hours on the procedure on Jean, a 19-year-old, 7,000-pound Asian elephant that was believed to have been pregnant for more than 730 days. The normal gestation period is between 618 and 648 days. The Cesarean section was performed as a last resort after Jean was unable to deliver the 300-pound calf and her system did not abort the fetus. “To our knowledge, this has never been tried before,” said Dr. Jim Oosterhuis, the park’s director of veterinary services. “It was very stressful. . . . There’s a good possibility that she will not be able to breed again and even if she were able to, we might not want to try to breed her to avoid problems that could occur from this procedure.”