Blackpool Zoo announces both expected elephant calves have died

Elephants at Blackpool Zoo, (c) Ian Preston, Flickr creative commons

Content warning: This article discusses elephant pregnancy and infant loss. 

In March 2024, Blackpool Zoo gleefully shared the news that both of its female Asian elephants, Noorjahan and Esha, were expecting and were due to give birth late this year.   

Sadly, in a Facebook post on 26th November the zoo announced that Noorjahan (29) gave birth to a baby which had died in the womb, and Esha (10) experienced “challenges” rearing her newborn, resulting in the calf passing away at just three days old.

This was Esha’s first baby, while Noorjahan, who is the mother of Esha, has already experienced the loss of one previous calf.  

Infant mortality and occurrence of stillbirths in captive elephants is significantly higher than would be expected in the wild. This is due to females being mated too young and having shorter interbirth intervals, unnatural herd structures, and the high mortality rate in captive populations caused by the highly fatal elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus haemorrhagic disease (EEHV-HD). The overall negative impacts of captivity on these highly intelligent, social and sensitive animals are also believed to play a role. 

In the wild, juvenile female elephants are thought to learn mothering skills by interacting with and helping to take care of the calves in their herd. Esha, as the last calf born at Twycross Zoo, had never witnessed an elephant birth. 

Between 2000-2020, 13 of 64 pregnancies (20.3%) among zoo elephants in the UK resulted in stillbirths, with 20 of 121 pregnancies (16.5%) among captive elephants in the US and Canada resulting in stillbirths over the same period. The rate of stillbirths in wild African elephants is estimated at 11.9%, and 12.3% in working Asian elephants. 

Wild Asian and African elephants typically reach reproductive age at around 11-12 years, whereas at the time of conception it is believed that Esha was just nine. Research has highlighted how early reproductive onset is common in elephants kept in zoos. 

Reacting to the news, Chris Lewis, Born Free’s Captivity Research & Policy Manager said, “We are deeply saddened to learn of the deaths of both baby elephants at Blackpool Zoo. Our thoughts are with the elephant keepers who frequently form a close bond with their animals, and of course, the elephants themselves who are widely known to experience and demonstrate complex feelings of grief.” 

“Elephants are multifaceted, wide-ranging animals who are completely unsuited to being kept in zoos, and the breeding of elephants in captivity serves no meaningful conservation purpose. We urge the UK Government, zoos and all stakeholders to bring an end to elephant breeding in UK zoos and humanely phase-out their keeping over time.” 

Published in May 2022, Born Free’s report, Elephants in Zoos: A Legacy of Shame, outlines the history and continuing plight of elephants in zoos across the United States, Canada, and Europe.  

The report analysed over 800 elephants reported to be in zoos across these regions and assessed a range of issues including age, herd size, enclosure size, transfers, births and deaths, along with a comprehensive review of the most recent literature covering all aspects of elephants in captivity. 

Using individual case studies, the report highlights the devastating impacts of captivity on the physical and psychological health and welfare of individual elephants. It also exposes the unsustainable nature of existing captive populations, and the impacts of wild capture for captive use on the social stability and conservation of wild elephant populations – with the consequent and serious knock-on effects for the wider ecosystems of which they are a vital part.  

The report concludes that the breeding and further importation of elephants into the UK must stop, and that the keeping of elephants should be phased out with every regard for the welfare of the remaining animals for the rest of their lives. 

At the time of writing, there are 48 elephants remaining in 10 UK zoos.