Baby Elephant Dies, Herd Grieves Loss Of Calf (PHOTOS)

Lola, a three-month-old elephant calf at the Hellabrunn Zoo in Munich, Germany, died the morning she was supposed to receive life-saving heart surgery.

The zoo has released pictures of the young calf during happier, healthier times, showing her playing and walking around the zoo.

But another picture, showing the love elephants at the zoo have for one another, is garnering more attention.

SCROLL DOWN FOR PHOTOS (Some Images May Be Disturbing)

The Hellabrunn Zoo explains:

Lola's body was brought back to the Hellabrunn herd on Saturday afternoon, so that her mother, Panang (22), could say her goodbyes to her in peace. Afterwards the herd gently nuzzled the lifeless body with their trunks and took their leave of her.

According to the zoo, Lola was being treated for pneumonia and stomach inflammation when zoo vets found the baby elephant also had a heart defect. Before the doctors -- veterinarians and human specialists -- could perform the surgery, the calf passed away.

"We are all so very sad that we couldn’t help Lola," Dr. Andreas Knieriem, director of the Hellabrunn Zoo, said in a memo posted on the zoo's website. "It was always our greatest fear that the blood clot in her heart could lead to an embolism that would result in sudden death. Unfortunately that is exactly what happened. Our only consolation is that we tried everything possible to save this baby elephant's life."

According to The Local, an English-language news site in Germany, another six-month-old baby elephant died in June 2010 at the Hellabrunn Zoo from metabolic bone disease.

Other elephants are facing different challenges. Advocacy groups recently warned that the Sumatran elephant could be extinct in the wild within 30 years due to habitat destruction.

Elephants have been known to mourn the loss of not only their own kind, but also of other animals. Tarra, an elephant at a sanctuary in Tennessee, had a nearly eight-year friendship with Bella, a dog. When Bella died, Tarra is believed to have carried the body of the dog back to a place where the two had played together.

Click over to the zoo for more information about Lola. And for some happier pictures of a baby animal and the mother, check out this series of a mother lion rescuing her baby.

LOOK: Pictures of Lola, the baby elephant:

Comments

[Annette Hammond]

12:18 PM on 01/28/2012

This is sad.And it is not something new to learn that elephants mourn.

[Robin Davidson]

09:21 PM on 01/27/2012

Not until the last animal is hunted last tree is cut last river is poisoned and last fish is caught will you know that money can not be eaten. Cree prophecy
defend the earth or be her enemy!!

[Ralph Sison]

04:09 PM on 01/31/2012

you actually scare me.

[Mongoose king]

05:45 PM on 01/27/2012

Turning a large island into an Animal preserve is better then these urban prisoners. pay the armed guards some real money and there would be almost no poaching. we could go visit them in their more natural environment.

[durdenms]

04:47 PM on 01/27/2012

This seriously makes me want to cry...

[speednuts]

04:21 PM on 01/27/2012

Just wait and see what happens. One day, the ONLY animals you see will be pictures in books and magazines--THEY ALL WILL BE GONE. The WORST predator in this world are--HUMANS. Most wont be around to see it but they will ALL be extinct. Shame on us(((((((((((.

[mlaiuppa]

02:21 PM on 01/27/2012

This is so sad. I am glad the keepers recognize the behavior of elephants and allowed them to grieve and have closure.

Dog owners. Be aware that dogs need closure too. If they have companion animals, let them see the body so they have closure instead of the stress and anxiety of never know why their friend is missing. That includes you. I've instructed my parents that if I predecease my dog, he is to be allowed to view my body.

[Kkraft1]

04:37 PM on 01/27/2012

I just had the same conversation with my adult children that if I predecease my dog then she should be with my body for the time she needs. She came to me when my dad died and she went through a very sad time of expecting him to come over (as he often did with her) and pick her up to go back ''home''. It was heartbreaking that she didn't know he was dead. Animals do need to know when their master is gone and they need time to grieve with the body if possible.

[GirlUsingBrain]

01:02 PM on 01/27/2012

Terribly sad. Makes my heart ache.

[bcmom]

09:33 AM on 01/27/2012

Elephants are fascinating creatures. They do not deserve to stay in captivity. We will never learn.

[getsit]

12:29 PM on 01/27/2012

Look how they all line up looking at the baby. They care. All of them.

[mlaiuppa]

02:21 PM on 01/27/2012

They don't deserve to be poached for their ivory and feet either.

[Watching rock grow]

04:26 PM on 01/27/2012

Thank you!

[Core-Sample]

10:42 PM on 01/26/2012

Awe, well I guess put that money towards a meal for a starving human

[seektruefaith]

09:14 PM on 01/26/2012

Sad story. I have learned that elephants mourn their dead. They are highly intelligent animals. Baby elephants are so cute. It's such a shame.

[FEsrigoHL]

07:31 PM on 01/26/2012

As long as people consider their reproduction more important than that of the animals, natural environments will be sacrificed along with the animal inhabitants. The wild is disappearing because of the burgoning human numbers that aRE TOTALLY out of any realistic necessity.
iT IS NATURAL & NECESSARY FOR ANIMALS THAT ARE NOT HEALTHY & FIT TO DIE. That gives food to the predators ( inc birds) & stops genetic weakness from being spread thruout the herd which would cost multiple lives in the future.

[LaVera Mahshid]

07:17 PM on 01/26/2012

:-(
Animals have more compassion than most humans.

[Lsharp03]

07:17 PM on 01/26/2012

They are a family. They love. And they so obviously hurt when one of them passes.

[Patsy Pope]

06:28 PM on 01/26/2012

The one thing I see that is the most touching is the zoo attendents sitting there watching the herd of elephants while holding hands. I can see the zoo attendents are heart broken too.

[peacekitten]

06:18 PM on 01/26/2012

rest in peace, little lola. although this zoo is trying very hard to honor her grieving mother, elephants grieve for years. she will miss her little girl for the rest of her life. i hope her mother will find some new happiness in her life at some point.