Elephant Herd Mourns Loss of Calf

A baby elephant at a German zoo who suffered from heart problems has passed away. Lola would’ve been the world’s first elephant to have heart surgery to remove a blood clot, but died during preparations for the operation. At just three months, during a CTA scan, the calf suffered from a pulmonary embolism and could not be revived. Zoo director and veterinarian Dr. Andreas Knieriem commented on Lola’s tragic death to the UK’s Daily Mail: ”Considering the pathology, it has to be said it’s a miracle that she lived as long as she did. Her arteries were so blocked that blood couldn’t flow through her lungs anymore.”

An adult elephant touches the head of baby Lola, after her body was brought to the herd so that they could say goodbye, Jan. 21, 2012, at the Hellabrunn Zoo, in Munich, Germany. (Animal Press/Barcroft Media /Landov)

Lola is shown during a medical team examination, using a computer tomograph scanner examination, in Munich, Germany, Jan. 21, 2012. (Hellabrunn Zoo/EPA/Landov)

Lola, at just 25-days-old, plays in her enclosure at Hellabrunn Zoo, Nov. 22, 2011 in Munich, Germany. (Nadine Rupp/Getty Images)

Just under a month old, the baby nuzzles, above, and walks, below, with another elephant, probably her mother, at Hellabrunn Zoo, Nov. 22, 2011 in Munich, Germany. (Nadine Rupp/Getty Images)