Water for Elephants is Not Enough: The Disease that is Killing Baby Elephants

Posted by Donald F. Smith, Cornell University
April 25, 2011

Like millions of other movie-goers, I watched Water For Elephants on opening weekend. As remarkable as the story and the acting by Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson, Christoph Waltz and supporting cast was, it was elephant Rosie’s performance that was totally captivating. Her grace and elegance, her ability to collapse, expand and trumpet that 9,000-pound frame was nothing short of breath taking.

Foreground: Tai, who stars as Rosie in "Water for Elephants", and her nephew, JP, who succumbed to a devastating Herpes viral infection in February, 2011. Please consider donating to the research efforts to stomp out this killer. Photo provided by Kari and Gary Johnson, Have Trunk Will Travel.

As Rosie’s veterinarian, Dr. Linda Peddie told me when I interviewed her in February, “Tai (who plays Rosie) is the best-trained and most mature elephant in the world.”

Some people watching the movie were horrified by the images of animal cruelty depicted towards Rosie. However, Gary and Kari Johnson, the husband-and-wife owners and trainers of Tai, were absolutely adamant that nothing harm her, either physically or emotionally. For example, during the depiction of Waltz’s most severe beating of Rosie, the handlers gently moved Tai out of harm’s way. Again Dr. Peddie, “Because Tai has never known mistreatment, she does not view the flailing rampage as anything more than some imbecile beating the air."

Even though there is superb care, veterinary attention, and humane treatment of Tai and the other five elephants at the Johnsons' ranch Have Trunk Will Travel, they have been affected by a devastating and unseen virus that kills elephants worldwide. It is a relatively new viral disease called Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpes Virus (EEHV), and it affects baby elephants in both captivity and in the wild with devastating results. Tai’s “nephew”, a 3½ year-old baby named JP―named in honor of veterinarian Dr. Jim Peddie―died in February, 2011. As is typical of babies with EEHV, the uncontrollable hemorrhaging disease killed JP in less than 48 hours.

JP’s death represented another tragic loss in the elephant world, not only because of the personal anguish at the Have Trunk Will Travel Ranch, but also because it highlights the sad reality that there is as yet neither a cure, nor a vaccine, for this deadly virus.

Research to prevent, manage and treat EEVH is being led by a consortium of veterinarians and biomedical researchers at the following institutions:

·         Smithsonian’s National Zoo

·         Baylor College of Medicine

·         Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine

·         Johns Hopkins University

Please consider Donating!

To support research to stomp out the disease that is responsible for the deaths of about 25% of the baby elephants born in the United States in the last three decades, please donate to:

The International Elephant Foundation (IEF), a 501 C (3) non-profit organization. http://www.elephantconservation.org/elephant-endotheliotropic-herpes-virus/.  

The Only Woman in Her Class

By Dr. Donald F. Smith, Cornell University

Date of posting February 5, 2011


This historical blog is in recognition of the 150th anniversary 
of the American Veterinary Medical Association (1863-2013).


CAREERS FOR VETERINARIANS Series

Though Cornell was a leader for women seeking a veterinary degree during the 1930s and 1940s, enrollment was more restricted during the subsequent two decades. Women, it was argued, were less likely than farm boys to pursue large animal practice, and that was the greatest priority for most veterinary colleges at that time.

Dr. Linda Dixon Reeve [Peddie]
Photo provided by Dr. Reeve, 2010

During spring 1961, Linda Dixon Reeve sat with seven other women awaiting her interview for the two slots (of 60) that were allocated that year to ‘girls'. She remembers very well the long and grueling meeting with the Admissions Committee:

It was on the order of the Grand Inquisition. All I was lacking was the bucket over my head and the gong, but there was a bright light. The interview table was set up in a “T” configuration with me at the bottom of the “T” and Associate Dean Gordon Danks at the head. There were men seated all the way around, all of whom had pens and tablets and hardly looked at me. It felt like it was just Danks and me.

He asked me if I cooked, if I sewed, if I danced, if I enjoyed dancing. Did I date? Then he wanted to know, “If you were to marry someone who had a vocation out in the desert where there really weren’t any animals, just what would you do with this degree?” That one really threw me because I thought, “Oh, my goodness, this man knows I’m dating a fellow from Dartmouth who happens to be studying oceanography”.

To her surprise, Linda was selected and became the only woman in her class (the college took three women the following year to make up the deficit).

After graduating in 1965, she married a classmate, James Peddie, and they moved to California. They partnered in the Conejo Valley Veterinary Clinic in Thousand Oaks, a large and progressive group of veterinarians who handled all species and managed both a hospital and ambulatory service. The size of the practice allowed Dr. Reeve a flexible work schedule while her daughters were young.

In addition of domestic animal practice, Dr. Reeve and her husband also were veterinarians to animal stars. They worked with all kinds of animals, including primates, large cats, and elephants. For over 15 years, they cared for the animals in television series, such as “Frazier” and “Full House”, and in such feature films as “Dancing with Wolves”.

At the height of their career, they had penetrated the inner circle of Hollywood and were working for all of the major studios. Dr. Reeve became particularly adept at dealing with regulatory and quarantine issues associated with moving animals between the United States and foreign countries. She was a member of the National Tuberculosis Working Group for Zoo and Wildlife Species, formatting protocols for the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis in elephants.

She was also instrumental in establishing the American Veterinary Medical Association's policy that advocated the use of the guide and tethers in managing elephants. This policy has helped halt legislation proposed by animal activists to outlaw use of the guide and tethers, tools she considers absolutely essential to assure the safety of both veterinarians and the elephants entrusted to their care.

Dr. Reeve retired from veterinary practice in 2002. Her biography and 2010 interview can be heard at  http://ecommons.library.cornell.edu/bitstream/1813/15132/2/Peddie,%20Linda%20Dixon%20Reeve,%20'65.pdf

Dr. Smith invites comments at dfs6@cornell.edu