Chester Zoo shocked at sudden death of elephant

Riva died while undergoing general anaesthetic

Chester Zoo has confirmed the death of an elephant whose mother died just a month before.

The four-year-old female Asian elephant, named Riva, died while under general anaesthetic on Wednesday after undergoing a routine diagnostic to check anomalies in her blood.

Riva was the daughter of Sundara Hi Way, a 20-year-old elephant who also died at the Cheshire attraction in July after complications from an illness.

“It really is difficult to find the words – we’re so utterly heartbroken to have lost Riva", the zoo's chief executive Jamie Christon said.

'Desperate for answers'

"She was an incredibly special elephant who was much-loved by so many," he said.

“Our hearts go out to our wonderful elephant and vet teams who cared for Riva day in, day out.

"Her loss is ever so tough to take and is not only felt deeply here but across our conservation community, given what a huge blow this is to the conservation of endangered Asian elephants”.

The zoo said it was "imperative" to investigate Riva's anomalies quickly but added that her 15-strong team "did everything they could to try to revive her but, tragically, nothing could be done".

A series of tests have been conducted to help the zoo understand what happened to Riva.

A zoo spokesman said: "We’re desperate to find the answers but, due to the number of ongoing tests and the specialist nature of them, it may take some time before we have full clarity on what happened."

Asian elephants are listed as endangered on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN’s) Red List of Threatened Species.

In the wild, they are highly threatened by poaching, habitat loss, conflict with humans and disease.

Chester Zoo has a long history in Asian elephant conservation, both at the zoo through its endangered species breeding programme and in the wild where it is supporting conservation efforts across India.