14 DAY TRIAL // Sadly, it often happens that animals that give birth in captivity reject their offspring. Granted, such cases have also been reported in the wild, yet they do appear to be more common among animals living in zoos and other such facilities.
By the looks of it, the same thing has recently happened at a zoo in China's Shandong Province.
Daily Mail tells us that, on August 30, a female elephant living at this facility gave birth to a male calf. Shortly after birth, she stepped on him.
Vets assumed that she did not do it on purpose, treated the baby elephant's injuries and sent him back in his mother's enclosure. The latter attacked him once again, and came fairly close to stamping him to death.
At this point, keepers agreed to separate the two. The baby elephant is now being looked after by one of the zoo's employees.
A spokesperson for the zoo says that, when he was first separated from his mother, the calf cried for about five hours. However, he now appears to be doing better.
Here's hoping he will continue to make progress.