Testing on Melbourne Zoo's beloved elephant herd for a potentially deadly disease is expanding before they move to their new home. By mid-2025, the herd moves to Werribee Open Range Zoo. It is a big change, and just like humans it can be difficult and stressful. And what makes it more complex is the need to constantly test for the disease known as EEHV.
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00:00A stretch, a pachyderm petty and a scrub in hard to reach areas.
00:11But this isn't your average beauty ritual.
00:13It's the foundation of us being able to help them if they do get sick.
00:17Every week Melbourne Zoo's elephants have their blood drawn to test for a potentially
00:20deadly disease.
00:22EEHV is elephant endothelial herpes virus.
00:26Herpes?
00:27It's a herpes virus.
00:28The disease lies dormant in all Asian elephants, and similar to human herpes, it's not known
00:33exactly what triggers it, but EEHV can be fatal.
00:38In 2023 the zoo's nine year old bull Manji died from the virus.
00:43It's incredibly sad for me because he's gone, but the people who were involved and had to
00:47try and help save him and couldn't have found that a really difficult case to come to terms
00:54with.
00:55From that grief we've really tried to turn that into the positive of how can we make
00:57sure that we're leading in EEHV in Australia.
01:01Since then blood testing has increased, especially now the herd has young calves entering an
01:05age where viral risks increase.
01:08The blood draw is critical to us being able to identify if there is an EEHV viral load
01:13within their blood, and then from that we can understand if we actually have to treat.
01:21To achieve that, the zoo trains the elephants to help by making it enjoyable and voluntary.
01:27Melbourne's herd only comes to this training barn for training, testing and maybe the cheeky
01:32occasional snooze.
01:34They spend most of their day walking the two and a half hectares of space that they have
01:37at the zoo, but facilities here are ageing and when they get to Werribee they'll have
01:41ten times the space than they currently have.
01:43The space is extraordinary out at Werribee that we've got for them.
01:47It's the size of Melbourne Zoo.
01:49Zoos Victoria is also on the front foot.
01:5252 year old matriarch Mek Kapar is a universal donor.
01:56Viral plasma is collected and has been used to help elephants suffering from EEHV.
02:01She's a lifesaver and she doesn't even know it.
02:03A process that'll only get better when the herd moves to Werribee.