2013-11-25 - Springfield, United States.
Federal inspectors have found no issues with the care of an elephant that killed a zookeeper last month in Springfield. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which regulates zoos under the Animal Welfare Act, released a report last week that found “no non-compliant items.”
2013-10-17 - Springfield, United States.
The morning of the incident, Patience hesitated in the chute, and elephant manager John Phillip Bradford, 62, was coaxing her forward. Bradford leaned into the chute, reaching for her with a guide. The animal suddenly lunged forward, knocking Bradford down, into the chute. The animal then crushed Bradford against the floor, killing him instantly.
2013-08-10 - Springfield, United States.
Dickerson Park Zoo announced today that its oldest elephant, Connie, is battling kidney disease. She is not expected to recover. The estimated 50-year-old elephant - nicknamed “Pinky” - was born in the wild and came to the zoo in November 1981 from the Zoological Gardens in Abilene, Texas. She has exceeded the average life expectancy for an elephant cow, which is about 47 years.
2010-08-04 - Springfield, United States.
The staff of Dickerson Park Zoo is deeply saddened by the death of “Ol’ C.C.,” the zoo’s oldest elephant. “C.C. held a special place in the hearts of everyone associated with the zoo and among the community,” says Mike Crocker, Zoo Superintendent. “This is a profound loss for our staff, especially her zookeepers who cared for her every day, and for the community as a whole.”
2010-07-15 - Springfield, United States.
Dickerson Park Zoo´s oldest elephant is recovering from a serious spinal injury. Dr. Erica Wilson, a staff veterinarian at the zoo, said C.C. the elephant was injured earlier this month when she fell during an exercise walk. She has two fractured lumbar vertebrae and minor damage to her spinal cord. Wilson believes the elephant fell due to some disorientation caused by anti-tuberculocidal medicine the elephant was given, she said.
2010-07-14 - Springfield, United States.
An ultrasound examination on one of Dickerson Park Zoo’s elephants provides new information about the animal’s condition. As the zoo has previously reported, zookeepers have seen signs of physical weakness and mobility problems in the zoo’s oldest elephant, Ol’ C.C. A local vascular surgeon helped Dr. Erica Wilson, the zoo’s staff veterinarian, visualize Ol’ C.C.’s spine and some internal organs. During the spinal examination, the doctors found two fractured lumbar vertebrae with m...
2010-07-10 - Springfield, United States.
The oldest resident of Dickerson Park Zoo, an elephant called Ol´ C.C., has developed a weakness in her back legs for a reason not yet known. Since January, the 60-year-old pachyderm has been receiving medication for a mycobacterial infection, treatment that was expected to last about nine months, possibly less if she responded quickly.
2010-07-09 - Springfield, United States.
Earlier this week, Dickerson Park Zoo’s veterinarian and zookeeper staff discontinued medication treating one of the zoo’s elephants for a mycobacterial infection. The elephant being treated, Ol’ C.C., is in her early 60s. She is the zoo’s eldest elephant and the fifth oldest elephant living in zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums. C.C. is among the 15 oldest living elephants listed in the Asian elephant studbook for North America.
2010-01-20 - Springfield, Missouri, United States. KSPR News
Here's the release from the zoo: Dickerson Park Zoo’s veterinarian and zookeeper staff have initiated an aggressive course of treatment to proactively help one of the elephants overcome a mycobacterial infection. The elephant, Ol’ C.C., is the zoo’s eldest elephant and the fifth oldest elephant living in AZA-accredited zoos. C.C. is among the 15 oldest living elephants listed in the Asian elephant studbook for North America. As a routine part of caring for the zoo’s elephants, the zoo’...
2008-01-18 - Springfield, United States. KSPR News
The Dickerson Park Zoo got off to a good start this year with a surprise. An anonymous donor gave the zoo $10,000 dollars for its elephant program. A local member of Friends of the Zoo gave the donation along with a letter recognizing the zoo’s staff and elephant program. Along with the donation the zoo was also happy to learn that the attendance from last year broke a record. It was the fourth year in a row it had more than 200,000 people.
2007-12-22 - Springfield, United States. Michael Crocker, superintendent of Dickerson Park Zoo
Our guests tell us elephants are their favorite animals at Dickerson Park Zoo. Elephants are magnificent, intelligent creatures that form strong bonds among the individuals in the herd and with their human caretakers. Following the death of our Asian elephant calf, 16-month-old Nisha, many of you conveyed your sympathies to our staff. You related how much you enjoyed watching Nisha grow, play and interact with the adults and how she was your child or grandchild's favorite. You recognized the obv...
2007-12-06 - Springfield, United States.
Dickerson Park Zoo has suspended elephant breeding for the time being. This week a California group called “In Defense of Animals” called on the Springfield Zoo to stop breeding Asian elephants because of the frequency of the herpes virus. Herpes caused the death of Springfield’s 16 month old elephant calf, Nisha, a few days ago. Zoo Director Mike Crocker said the suspension has nothing to do with the criticism. Instead, the zoo is without a reliable male breeding elephant.
2007-12-03 - SPRINGFIELD, United States. Melinda Arnold, Dickerson Park Zoo News Release
The 16-month-old elephant calf, Nisha, at Dickerson Park Zoo died in the early hours of Saturday morning from elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV). Animal care staff administered medications last night at 8 p.m. and remained with the elephants throughout the night. Nisha first showed signs of EEHV on Thursday afternoon when elephant keepers recognized initial symptoms: tongue discoloration and a lesion on the roof of Nisha's mouth.
2007-12-02 - Springfield, United States. Michelle Sherwood
Veterinarians at Springfield's Dickerson Park Zoo are studying the death of Nisha, she’s the 16-month old elephant that died yesterday morning at the zoo. Officials say she was treated for a herpes virus that usually kills elephants in just five days. Zoo officials say Nisha received aggressive treatment and good care, but now one California-based animal group called In Defense of Animals, is calling for the zoo to stop breeding. The group claims that the facility is contaminated.
2007-07-22 - Springfield, United States. Dirk VanderHart
Dickerson Park Zoo held its first-ever ZooFest on Saturday. The centerpiece of the day was the birthday girl Nisha, who turned 1 on Wednesday. In spite of the festivities, the 1-year-old elephant just meandered near her mother like always, oblivious to the frequent "happy birthday" wishes of young children. Nisha might not have realized the party was in her honor, but she probably did notice a change in diet Saturday. In the elephant pen, the pachyderms roamed with trunks stained red, a memento ...
2007-02-09 - Springfield, United States. STAN FREEMAN
Evolution can be a long, strange road. For that symbol of the ice age, the woolly mammoth, it was stranger than for most. It was part of an order of animals, Proboscidea, that began small - about the size of pigs - then grew large. Some woolly mammoths, in fact, stood as high as 13 feet at the shoulder. But in the end, these cold-loving mammoths grew small again, belying their name. Like dinosaurs, woolly mammoths are creatures of myth. Both are huge, extinct and fascinating to kids.
2006-10-30 - SPRINGFIELD, Missouri, United States. MARCUS KABEL
Riverbluff Cave is slowly yielding its fossil treasures:Lead paleontologist Matt Forir said every discovery raises new questions. Mammoth bones and a juvenile tooth dated around 630,000 years ago came from one of two species and it will require more adult remains to tell which one it is. "We either have the oldest wooly mammoth in North America or the youngest Meridian mammoth.
2006-09-12 - Springfield, Missouri, United States. Press Release, Dickerson Park Zoo
Eight weeks after her birth, Dickerson Park Zoo's newest bundle of joy has a name. The 320-pound calf will be known as Nisha (pronounced NEESH-ah), an Indian word for “night,” a reference to her overnight birth (1:35 a.m.) on July 18. Nisha's birth was the first elephant calf born at Dickerson Park Zoo since Haji in 1999 and the sixth successful birth for the zoo's herd. She is the third calf born to 25-year-old Moola and the first offspring from Sabu, the zoo's 18-year-old bull.
2006-07-19 - Springfield, Missouri, United States.
A 238-pound female elephant calf was born in the early morning hours at Dickerson Park Zoo. The mother, 25-year-old Moola, sired by the 18-year-old bull Sabu, delivered the calf outdoors at the zoos new cow barn after a brief labor. This is the sixth successful elephant birth at Dickerson Park Zoo, and the first since 1999.
2002-07-16 - Springfield, Missouri, United States.
The health of an Asian elephant calf infected with a deadly herpesvirus appeared to worsen Tuesday as treatment with an experimental regiment of drugs continued. Officials at Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield remained hopeful that the nearly 3-year-old elephant calf, named "Haji," would recover from endothelial inclusion body disease, a herpesvirus specific to elephants. It is generally fatal within five days, zoo spokeswoman Melinda Mancuso said.
2002-05-23 - Springfield, Missouri, United States. Gigi Allianic, Dickerson Park Zoo
The staff of Dickerson Park Zoo is mourning the death of the bull elephant, “Onyx,” who died Wednesday evening, May 22. Onyx is more familiarly know as “Big Mac” to everyone in southern Missouri. Preliminary necropsy results indicate mesenteric torsion with subsequent intestinal rupture as the cause of death.
2001-09-05 - SPRINGFIELD, Missouri, United States. KOMO Staff & News Services
A southwest Missouri zoo is fighting federal allegations that workers abused a Seattle zoo's female elephant in its breeding program in 1998. The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed Wednesday that it's has filed a complaint alleging Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield violated the Animal Welfare Act in its handling of the Asian elephant, named Chai. The incident allegedly occurred on Sept. 23, 1998, three days after Chai arrived from Woodland Park Zoo to participate in Springfield's nationall...
1999-11-30 - Springfield, Missouri, United States. AP
In an important milestone for an endangered species, an Asian elephant has given birth through artificial insemination. Weighing in at 378 pounds, Haji was born Sunday at Dickerson Park Zoo. It was the world's first birth through artificial insemination of an Asian elephant, which are estimated to number only35,000 worldwide.
1998-10-01 - Springfield, United States. Schmitt DL, Hildebrandt TB., Southwest Missouri State University
The implications of collecting semen from elephants for use in artificial insemination programs are profound in the context of propagating captive elephants. Using a manual manipulation technique, semen was collected and characterized from five adult Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) and ejaculate fluid was obtained from one castrated elephant bull. The penis was stimulated to protrusion and erection by rectal massage of the pelvic portion of the urethra. During an ejaculatory response, massage ...
2025-03-27 - Chiang Mai, Thailand.
In a united effort to prevent forest fires, a team of three elephants joined over 20 locals in constructing firebreaks in Chiang Mai’s Mae Taeng district on Wednesday. The initiative, led by Phra Kh...
2025-03-27 - Cholamunda, India.
A Wild tusker, known as Kasera Komban, was found dead in abandoned septic tank in Kerala Malappuram. The tusker used to be affectionately called "Kasera Komban" due to its remarkably long tusks, which...
2025-03-18 - Wichita, United States.
The Sedgwick County Zoo announced Monday that 29-year-old African elephant Simunye delivered a stillborn calf following a healthy, full-term pregnancy. This would have marked the first elephant born a...
2025-03-08 - Guwahati, India.
A female elephant calf took birth in Assam’s Kaziranga National Park. The newborn, named Gauri, is the offspring of an elephant named Phulmai, who resides within the protected area of Kaziranga.
2025-03-05 - Trichy, India.
A 60-year-old female elephant named Jaini, who was being cared for at the MR Palayam Government Elephant Rehabilitation Centre in Reserve Forest under the Trichy Forest Division, has passed away. The ...
2025-02-07 - Amboseli, Kenya.
We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Paolo, one of Amboseli’s most famous and cherished elephants. At 46 years old, Paolo’s death marks the loss of a true giant, not only in size but ...
