Herpes Infection and Elephant Died

BERLIN — A young elephant died unexpectedly at the Berlin Zoo on Tuesday, two weeks after celebrity polar bear Knut suddenly passed away in front of shocked onlookers.

"We all mourn the death of this young and special animal", Bienek said. "It's simply very, very sad."

Bienek said the two deaths are unrelated.

A necropsy of the elephant showed that it most likely died of a herpes infection, but that final results of the blood test were still needed to confirm the cause of death, the zoo's veterinarian Andreas Ochs said.

The Berlin Zoo has already lost two elephants due to herpes infections. In 1998, bull elephant Kiba died and two years later, his offspring, nine-month old bull Kiri also died from the virus.