San Diego

The African elephant that underwent the first-ever Cesarean section on a pachyderm has developed a sweet tooth and begun to eat, indicating to doctors at the San Diego Wild Animal Park that she is recovering.

Tom Hanscom, a spokesman for the park, said that Tuesday night and Wednesday, Jean, a 7,000-pound, 19-year-old elephant, ate four candy bars, four loaves of bread, a little bit of hay and half a pan of “elephant brownies”--a concoction of oat bran and baking chocolate.

“Even though it seems like a lot of chocolate, it’s nothing to an elephant,” Hanscom said, adding that animal keepers believe the caffeine in the candy is stimulating Jean’s appetite. “In this case, chocolate seems to be good medicine.”

On Monday, a team of 11 doctors operated on Jean to remove a 296-pound dead fetus that they feared was threatening her life. On Wednesday, Hanscom said, Jean remained sluggish but exhibited no signs of infection.