Severe constipation kills elephant at Miami zoo

  • Asian elephant Maude, 41, died Wednesday at Zoo Miami
  • Maude suffered constipation after eating sand and clay
  • Her arthritis, which limited her movements, made her constipation worse

By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 18:40 EST, 29 November 2013 | UPDATED: 00:50 EST, 30 November 2013

A 41-year-old Asian elephant has died from constipation at a Florida zoo.

Maude collapsed and passed away in less than a minute during a Wednesday morning treatment session at Zoo Miami.

A necropsy revealed her digestive tract was packed with sand and clay.

Sad: Maude (left, pictured with Nellie the elephant) died on Wednesday from constipation

Sad: Maude (left, pictured with Nellie the elephant) died on Wednesday from constipation

Veterinarians began treating Maude last week when she showed signs of severe digestive impaction, CBS Miami reported.

While elephants normally produce up to 400 pounds of feces a day, Maude stopped having bowel movements and eating. 

 

More...

Top veterinary specialists tried a variety of treatments ranging from wheat bran to IV fluids.

It was during one of those treatments that the pachyderm collapsed.

Impaction: A necropsy revealed Maude the elephant (left) had a blocked intestine from eating sand and clay

Impaction: A necropsy revealed Maude the elephant (left) had a blocked intestine from eating sand and clay

A partial necropsy revealed her intestine was packed with sand and clay.

While vets say elephants in the wild eat these natural minerals, the combination proved fatal for Maude.

'It was very abrupt, very traumatic for everyone. Elephants are very charismatic, they’re considered very intelligent animals. There’s something magnificent about them,' zoo communications director Ron Magill told Miami Herald.

Magill said Maude's arthritis contributed to her constipation as it was difficult for her to move around.

A more thorough necropsy will be undertaken.

This is an aerial view of Zoo Miami, which Maude called home for three years

This is an aerial view of Zoo Miami, which Maude called home for three years

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This...are you serious?!!? What an article!!! It will definitely win some kind of intelligent journalism prize. Yay.

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That happens to horses when chewing grass too low to the ground because there's nothing else to eat. It doesn't sound like the elephant was given enough to food.

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They knew she stopped passing bowels. My question is why didn't they do an enema on her? It was apparent when she stopped eating it was digestive. Sometimes humans have where they become impacted and need a hand should I say. Why not tranquilizer her and run warm water hose inside to give her a hand? Look at Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston. Hers was made public. Lack of exercise and being bed ridden and her not having the room elephants need to roam. I'm sure was a big cause of her death. Sad to say but we are killing these animals by putting them in tiny under funded zoos. They need a safe place where they have thousands of acres and no poachers because one day soon we won't have anymore of these gracious intelligent animals for you or my ancestors. Just like our dinosaurs and we don't think to blame people for their extinction.

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Bobby Brown died of constipation?

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Elephants in the wild do not gulp down masses of sand and clay that clog their digestive tracts, like Maude did. She was clearly not being properly fed or cared for at Zoo Miami. And WHY did Maude have arthritis? Because of the tiny inadequate zoo enclosure and hard substrates that zoo elephants are forced to live on. When will the public wake up and realize that every time you take your kids to the zoo to see elephants or other wild animals, you're paying to keep them suffering in their prisons! Swap places with them for ONE day and see how it would be, from the inside looking out. Wild animals like elephants belong in the wild or in vast sanctuaries like PAWS or The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. Wild elephants live to age 60 - 70 or more in the wild but most zoo elephants die by age 40. Your zoo dollars at work. This is the PUBLIC'S fault, for patronizing zoos.

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Elephants in the wild do not gulp down masses of sand and clay that clog their digestive tracts, like Maude did. She was clearly not being properly fed or cared for at Zoo Miami. And WHY did Maude have arthritis? Because of the tiny inadequate zoo enclosure and hard substrates that zoo elephants are forced to live on. When will the public wake up and realize that every time you take your kids to the zoo to see elephants or other wild animals, you're paying to keep them suffering in their prisons! Swap places with them for ONE day and see how it would be, from the inside looking out. Wild animals like elephants belong in the wild or in vast sanctuaries like PAWS or The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. Wild elephants live to age 60 - 70 or more in the wild but most zoo elephants die by age 40. Your zoo dollars at work. This is the PUBLIC'S fault, for patronizing zoos.

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RIP Maude!!

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Should have given them Thai food! In all seriousness though, that's really sad...why wasn't this taken care of?

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I'm sitting here LAUGHING. You are funny.

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terrible lack of care. Far too many captive elephants are kept in sparse brown enclosures whereas they should be constantly eating greenery and walking for miles. A sanctuary like BLES is how all elephants should live. Free to do as they please, wonderful and loving personal care and free from poachers.

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Sounds like that will be the Number One cause of death for a lot of our politicians.

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Shouldn't this be yet another data point that Elephants shouldn't be contained in zoo's? .....Or circuses for that matter. Seems that there should be some minimum acreage standard for Elephants in captivity. Probably would never be met in the states, especially in metropolitan areas.. This is so sad and probably was avoidable.

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