Alabama elephants deaths reports released

    MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - A Montgomery Zoo veterinarian says final
necropsy reports show the deaths of a 23-year-old African elephant
and her 1-month-old calf weren’t related to breeding elephants in
zoos.
    Critics of zoo breeding dispute that conclusion. They say the
mother elephant’s abdominal health problems would not have occurred
in the wild.
    Montgomery Zoo veterinarian Jack Kottwitz said the report showed
the mother elephant would have died in the wild with her intestinal
problems. The necropsy showed her male calf, weighing 200-plus
pounds, died from a rare fungus infection resulting in heart
failure.
    The reports, completed last October, were released recently to
The Associated Press by the city attorney after a lengthy period of
requests.