Zoo Elephant Hurt in Moat Put to Death

A 51-year-old elephant at the San Diego Zoo had to be put to death because of injuries she suffered after falling headfirst into a concrete moat, officials said.

Maya, an Asian elephant who was the oldest mammal at the zoo, apparently suffered torn ligaments in her legs Sunday as she tried to climb out of the moat surrounding her enclosure, said zoo spokesman Jeff Jouett.

Veterinarians resorted to a fatal dose of sedative when Maya was unable to stand on her own following a treatment of fluids, painkillers and steroids.

“I counted 27 people there trying to help,” Jouett said. “When she would try to rock and stand up, there was a lot of calling and urging to her.”

Elephants cannot convalesce while sitting or lying down because their weight exerts life-threatening pressure on their internal organs, Jouett said.

Jouett said 51 is fairly old for an elephant, but some have lived into their 60s in captivity.

Maya, who was captured in India and brought to the zoo in 1941, was bumped into the moat by another elephant. Two nearby keepers didn’t see the fall but heard the commotion.

The 7,100-pound elephant was walking without difficulty in the moat, but she apparently crippled herself while trying to climb out on top of bales of hay that zookeepers had set up like steps, Jouett said.

Maya then was fitted with a harness and lifted by crane into a sitting position. But it was evident when workers tried to get her to stand that her legs wouldn’t support her, and she was then put to death.

Elephants have been knocked into the moat before without suffering serious injury, but Jouett said Maya’s age may have made her accident worse. Tests after her death showed she suffered from degenerative arthritis in her legs.

He described her as a generally calm, easygoing creature, but one who often would assert herself to show she still led the herd.

“There’s some concern over how the remaining four elephants will react,” Jouett said. “They’ll notice she’s gone, and I’m sure it will be upsetting to them.”

After the accident, the zoo’s Elephant Mesa was closed to the public for the rest of the day.