On Sunday morning, Tierpark keepers found elephant cow Dashi lying in her stall. She was no longer able to stand up by herself because of circulatory insufficiency. The keepers and vets did everything they could to help the old lady, but to no avail. As Dashi’s condition was deteriorating, the team decided to spare her any further suffering and put her to sleep. “This kind of decision is always taken with a heavy heart,” says veterinarian Dr Günter Strauß. “But when we see no chance of recovery and the animal is visibly suffering, the best and kindest option is to put it to sleep.”
Dashi is presumed to have been born in Zimbabwe in 1968. She was brought to the Tierpark by animal dealer company Ruhe in 1969 when she was still a calf. As her exact year of birth has never been confirmed, we only know that she was at least 48 years old. This is a ripe old age for an African elephant, and it made Dashi one of the oldest female elephants in a European zoo. In their native African habitat, it is extremely rare for the elephants to live this long. The risk of the animals falling prey to poachers has increased dramatically in recent years due to the rising price of ivory. And if they are not killed by illegal poaching, they become an easier target for predators the older and weaker they become.
This morning, Dashi was taken to the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research where the exact causes for her circulatory problems will be investigated.
Following Dashi’s death, five African elephants now remain at Tierpark Berlin: bull Tembo (31) and his son Kando (9), plus Lilak (45), Pori (35) and Kariba (10).
