Chester Zoo is 'shocked and saddened' at the sudden death of one of its elephants.

Adult female Asian elephant Sundara Hi Way, 20, suddenly fell ill inside the zoo's Elephants of the Asian Forest habitat on Friday, July 19.

Both animal care and veterinary teams rushed to help her but, despite doing everything they could to try and treat her, Sundara deteriorated rapidly and very sadly died.

An examination has since taken place to help understand the exact cause of the unexpected loss of Sundara, which revealed she had twisted intestines.

This complication can occur in a range of mammals, for example it can be seen in horses. It can onset very quickly and is almost impossible to diagnose or treat in elephants.

Chester Zoo CEO Jamie Christon said: "We are all so deeply shocked and saddened by this tragic turn of events. Our thoughts are, of course, with our wonderful elephant conservationists who have cared for Sundara since she was born here in 2004.

“In that time, she had given birth to a number of calves including female elephants Indali and Riva, who are at the zoo today, and played a vital role in the conservation breeding programme for this endangered species.

“Asian elephants Riva, Indali, Anjan and Maya remain in good health and our expert teams will be monitoring them all extra closely in the coming days and weeks as the herd dynamics adjust to this sudden change.”

Conservation

Asian elephants are listed as Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with fewer than 50,000 remaining today.

The species is highly threatened in the wild by habitat loss, poaching, human-wildlife conflict and a deadly herpes virus called Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus (EEHV), which has so far been detected in nine out of 13 countries across its range.

Chester Zoo has a long history of working with the animals, both in the zoo through its successful conservation breeding programme and in the wild where it is a major force in supporting conservation efforts in India.

The zoo’s Assam Haathi Project, in partnership with Ecosystems-India, started in 2004 and works with dozens of villages in northern India to help successfully mitigate human-elephant conflict, implementing a range of innovative methods to help keep elephants and people from harm.