Published on the YouTube of Zoo Vienna the 10.07.2021.
Shock at Zoo Vienna: the young elephant Kibali suddenly dropped to the floor and was dead. A huge loss for the zoo in Vienna and conservation worldwide.
Note: Deaths like this are tragic and sad, but, unfortunately, they are also common in nature. When they occur at a zoo, they hit people harder because they were able to feel more connected to the animals – thanks to having experienced them in real life. Zoo Vienna has not only chosen to handle this tragic death with outstanding transparency, but it is also ensuring that Kibali stays the wonderful ambassador for her species that she was throughout her life. Often, the false impression arises that elephants in nature only die from threats caused by humans because that is what gets noticed the most. To have a real understanding of the extinction crisis, visitors need to see that there are also other causes of death and that the pressure exerted by man is just additional.
Zoo Vienna made sure that Kibali was never short of anything:
She was also healthy and trained excellently:
Even such excellent care is powerless against acute heart failure. Communicating this is crucial because it provides a more complete picture of elephants. Since these animals may die even without human intervention, it is all the more urgent to stop the harmful impact on their populations. Zoo Vienna is committed to this and is currently running a conservation project to this end, amongst other things. Elephant breeding under human care is essential, especially for such conservational projects.
