UW Madison performs necropsy on Milwaukee County Zoo elephant, hopes to advance research

MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Ruth, a beloved elephant at the Milwaukee County Zoo, died over the weekend. After her second fall this month, zookeepers made the difficult decision to euthanize her. Now, The University of Madison School of Veterinary Medicine is performing a necropsy.

In an interview only on CBS 58, we spoke with the lead pathologist who hopes to find answers behind Ruth’s death, and advance elephant research.

Whenever a zoo animal dies, a necropsy is performed to find out the cause but in this case since we know Ruth was euthanized. The next step is to find out what lead to her failing health.

"Performing a necropsy is a privilege because we want to respect and honor that interaction and connection people have and at the same time provide them answers and some kind of closure," said Dr. David Gasper, Section Head for Pathology and Zoo and Wildlife Pathology Coordinator at UW-Madison.

In the lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dr. David Gasper is examining remains.

"The necropsy is a snapshot but it's a valuable snapshot that anchors a lot of the clinical data," said Dr. Gasper.

On Sunday, Sept 21, Dr. Gasper and a team of 15 students, residents and faculty answered the call.

"We had a little bit of a warning that she had fallen and that she may or may not get up so we should be prepared," said Dalia Badamo, second year Anatomic Pathology Resident, UW Madison

Among them was second year anatomic pathology resident Dalida Badamo.

"I've gotten to see a huge range of species from a hummingbird to a giraffe," said Badamo.

However, this was the first time Badamo's worked on an elephant.

"You meet a lot of people; the animal care staff, the veterinary staff, the ground staff and this huge group of people work together to perform the necropsy," said Badamo.

While protocol is the same for most animals, performing a necropsy on an elephant happens on a much larger scale.

"It made me really appreciate the size of these guys especially we were opening joints and looking at these joints that are similar to ours and similar to the smaller species we work with and just conceptualizing the amount of weight that goes into each of them," said Badamo.

Dr. Gasper says the results of necropsies help provide clinical insight but also play a vital role in conservation.

"The opportunity to work with these animals is rare, I would like to keep it rare and in order to do that, gain as much information as we can from this necropsy," said Dr. Gasper. "At the end of the day one of our goals is to identify what diseases are present that act as obstacles to maintaining healthy captive populations and help with conservation efforts."

Dr. Gasper and his team say the necropsy will be completed in the next few weeks.