Ruby, an elephant celebrated at the Phoenix Zoo for her pachyderm paintings, had to be put to death during a risky surgery Friday to remove a dead 200-pound fetus.
Veterinarians found that Ruby's uterine wall had ruptured during pregnancy and caused a deadly infection. Joe Foerner, a Chicago veterinarian who led the operation, likened the infection to "a ruptured appendix, only a thousand times."The full-term fetus had slipped out of the womb and into Ruby's abdomen, said Dr. Kathy Orr, the zoo's chief veterinarian. "It was removed, but the uterus could not be repaired," Orr said. "We could not save her life."
Ruby became a media star a decade ago when her keepers noticed she liked to hold a stick in her trunk and doodle in the sand. They gave her a paintbrush, and her abstract canvas creations raised about $500,000 for the zoo.
"Ruby captured people's imaginations. Our obligation was to take advantage . . . and try to inspire people to care for creatures in the wild," said Jeff Williamson, executive director of the zoo.
Seven veterinarians from around the country performed the surgery in which the 25-year-old, 9,000-pound elephant was placed under general anesthesia and laid on her side on a pile of mattresses and inner tubes.
Veterinarians said that Ruby's odds of survival were slim going into the surgery. In all four previous attempts to perform Caesarean sections on Asian elephants worldwide, the mothers died.
One hour into surgery, veterinarians concluded that it was best to euthanize Ruby, Foerner said.