Heartbreaking moment mother elephant tries to save her newborn calf in Swiss ... trends now
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This is the heartbreaking moment a mother elephant does all she can to rouse her newborn baby at a Swiss Zoo - but the little one eventually loses its battle for life.
The endangered male Asian elephant was born at the Kaeng Krachan Elephant Park in Zurich Zoo on January 14 to his mother, 17-year-old Farha.
The calf's grandmother Ceyla-Himali was also present for the birth. Zurich Zoo said that even in the wild births take place in the family circle.
The footage shows the initial joyful moment that Fahra gives birth to her calf - but it soon turns into a devastating fight to save the newborn's life.
The footage firstly shows the initial joyful moment that Fahra gives birth to her calf - but it soon turns into a devastating fight to save her newborn's life
The clips show Fahra experiencing contractions after being induced and the baby is finally born
Elephants have the longest gestation period of any living mammal and Farha was pregnant for 22 months - meaning the arrival of the endangered baby Asian elephant was highly anticipated by zoo staff.
The clips show Fahra experiencing contractions after being induced and the baby is finally born.
At first the calf appears to move around a little but the already doting mother instinctively notices that something is wrong and starts to nudge him with her foot.
The Swiss zoo said that the baby was 'very weak' from the