Joburg Zoo saddened by the death of Kinkel the elephant
Staff at the Johannesburg Zoo have are in mourning over the passing of 35-year-old elephant Kinkel.
Kinkel fell ill on Monday, but despite the medical treatment he died on Tuesday morning.
Executive Manager Business Development, Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo, Louise Gordon, says they do not yet know the cause of death, however the elephant has been suffering from colic.
"Last year, the colic attacks became more frequent with the worst episode being about 3 attacks in a week."
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"However, these did not last long - at most 5 minutes. The last colic attack was sometime in June this year, and since then he hadn't fully recovered," she says.
The Zoo is still conducting a post mortem to determine his exact cause of death.
The results should be available by the end of the week depending on the cause.
The Joburg Zoo is not the only entity mourning the death of Kinkel.
Lammie, a female elephant which shared an enclosure with Kinkel, has not taken the situation very well.
"On Monday, she was seen trying to help Kinkel get up. She refused to eat on Tuesday and Alice, her Zoo keeper suspects that she was aware that something was wrong. Elephants are known to grieve. We know that."
"She trumpets whenever she is happy. We are not sure how she will express her emotions in this situation," adds Gordon.