Woodland Park elephant Chai apparently pregnant; rights groups afraid for her health

If all goes well, Sneezy and Chai should become the proud parents of a 200-pound baby by Thanksgiving — 2009.

Chai, the Woodland Park Zoo's 29-year-old female Asian elephant, appears to be pregnant for the first time since losing her 6-year-old daughter, Hansa, to a fatal strain of elephant herpes last year.

But rather than being a joyous occasion, Chai's apparent pregnancy has renewed concerns among animal-rights groups about the risks of elephant herpes and the ongoing mystery of how Hansa, a zoo celebrity, contracted it.

Alyne Fortgang, co-founder of Friends of Woodland Park Zoo Elephants, said it was "unethical and irresponsible" to breed Chai until more is known about the cause of Hansa's fatal infection.

Another elephant at the zoo, an African elephant named Watoto, was recently found to have the same strain that killed Hansa, raising the possibility that Chai's baby could get it as well.

"This is a death sentence for young elephants," said Fortgang. "It's a horrific disease, causing massive hemorrhaging. It would be a miracle if the new calf did not get the herpes virus."

Chai's medical records, obtained in a public-disclosure request by Fortgang's group, say pregnancy is "suspected" because of increased blood flow to her uterus and elevated levels of progesterone, a hormone linked to pregnancy.

An ultrasound in April did not find a fetus. But elephants have a 22-month gestation period, so zoo staff say they won't know for sure until another ultrasound this fall. Sneezy, the prospective father, is an Asian elephant at the zoo in Tulsa, Okla. Chai was artificially inseminated in January.

Woodland Park's chief curator, Nancy Hawkes, said the zoo's breeding program was given the green light by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums after the facts of Hansa's death were presented at a conference.

"We would not have moved along with the breeding program if we thought we were at greater risk" for elephant herpes, said Hawkes.

Elephant herpes, called EEHV, was first isolated by staff at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., in 1995, following the death of a 16-month-old, Kumari. Although researchers are working on treatments and a vaccine, it is still unknown if it is transmitted in utero, in semen, or by other contact.

Although zoo staff recently got a "faint positive" test result for herpes in Watoto, she is still healthy and not showing symptoms. Hawkes said most elephants likely carry the virus, but it is unknown why some get sick with it.

"Having a death from the herpes virus does not change the risk of having another death," Hawkes said. "Our level of risk is the same as it was when Chai was pregnant with Hansa" in 2000.

But Catherine Doyle of In Defense of Animals, a California-based group that advocates for better treatment of elephants in zoos, also calls breeding Chai irresponsible. Of the 27 reported cases of elephant herpes, 23 have been fatal, mostly striking elephants under the age of 7.

"We've asked the zoo to discontinue their breeding program until more is known about it," Doyle said.

The animal-rights groups also accuse the zoo of breeding elephants simply to boost ticket sales at the zoo. They note that attendance at Woodland Park doubled immediately after Hansa was born in November 2000.

Hawkes said she was offended by such suggestions.

The motivation, she said, is preserving Asian elephants. There are about 30,000 Asian elephants left in the wild, and 143 living in 42 accredited zoos.

"We don't have the luxury of time to preserve these animals," Hawkes said.

Jonathan Martin: 206-464-2605 or jmartin@seattletimes.com