POWELL – The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium Saturday announced the death of 13-year-old male Asian elephant Beco.
Beco died at approximately 11:00 that morning from Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus, a life-threatening virus affecting elephants living in the wild and in sanctuaries and zoos worldwide, according to Tom Schmid, the zoo’s president and CEO.
“The loss of any animal is hard, but losing a young, elephant is especially devastating,” he said. “We take some comfort knowing that valuable scientific data from Beco’s illness will be applied to helping to save the lives of other elephants.”
Beco is the second elephant to succumb to EEHV at the zoo.
Ganesh, a 7-year-old Indian elephant on loan from another zoo, died in 2005.
Researchers say elephants, like most mammals, can carry different herpesviruses throughout their lives and usually those viruses remain dormant and do not cause illness.
However, in some elephants, including younger animals that have less immunities to disease, the virus grows and can create life-threating health risks.
Elephants are most susceptible to EEHV from ages 1-8 but elephants in their teens have also died of the virus.
Adult elephants are less susceptible to the virus because their immune system is more robust, zoo officials said.