Death of Another Elephant Calf at Zurich Zoo: When Will the Zoo Learn?

The zoo has described this death as a “natural reproductive risk”. Yet the causes of mortality repeatedly observed in Zurich – including EEHV infections and the deaths of young calves within the herd – are extremely rare in wild elephant populations. Their repeated occurrence within the same institution cannot simply be dismissed as bad luck or inevitability.

Since 2016, at least eleven elephants have died at Zurich Zoo, including several young animals and newborn calves. These include three calves that died from elephant herpesvirus (EEHV) in 2022, several calves that died shortly after birth, and a young elephant that died in 2025 following severe, as yet undisclosed, medical complications.

Indi’s situation is particularly concerning. This elephant has given birth to five calves: three have died, one was transferred to Copenhagen Zoo, and only her daughter Chandra still lives with her in Zurich. According to Dr Keith Lindsay, a renowned elephant biologist, “it is misleading to portray these repeated events as a ‘natural’ process: the elephants at Zurich Zoo live in an artificial environment entirely controlled by humans.” If anything, the risk of mortality should be much lower in captivity, where there should be fewer hazards than in the wild. Instead, deaths of young elephants are becoming commonplace at Zurich.

Beyond the suffering of the calves, the suffering of the mothers must also be considered. Female elephants form exceptionally strong bonds with their offspring and invest years in their care. Subjecting them repeatedly to pregnancy, birth and the loss of their young raises profound ethical and welfare concerns. Swiss animal protection law requires that the welfare and dignity of animals be respected. Yet the repeated cycle of births, deaths and transfers observed at Zurich Zoo calls into question whether these principles are truly being upheld.

Zurich Zoo argues that captive breeding is necessary to maintain a “reserve population” of Asian elephants. Yet no elephant born in a European zoo has ever been released into the wild or contributed to the recovery of wild populations. The conservation of Asian elephants depends on protecting habitats, reducing human-elephant conflict and combating poaching across their range states, not on breeding elephants in European cities. The notion of a reserve population therefore appears less a conservation strategy than a justification for perpetuating captivity and exhibition.

The situation also raises a broader question of consistency in Swiss animal welfare policy. In 2012, Switzerland prohibited the import of cetaceans because highly intelligent, socially complex and wide-ranging animals cannot have their biological and behavioural needs adequately met in artificial environments. Yet elephants, the largest land mammals on Earth, with similarly sophisticated cognition, social bonds and spatial requirements, continue to be bred and kept in captivity. If welfare considerations justified ending the captivity of whales and dolphins, why should the same reasoning not apply to elephants?

For Fondation Franz Weber, the repeated deaths of calves at Zurich Zoo are not isolated incidents but symptoms of a system that fails to meet the needs of elephants. The organisation therefore reiterates its call for an immediate end to captive breeding, a halt to elephant transfers between zoos, and the development of sanctuary-based solutions for elephants currently held in captivity.