LITTLE Sanook loved playing with his favourite toy but somehow the fun-loving elephant calf's head became so tangled up in the suspended tyre that he stopped breathing.
The 11-month-old died at Melbourne Zoo on Tuesday night playing with the tyre he frequently used and that was also previously enjoyed by his sister and brother.
Melbourne Zoo director Kevin Tanner described the death as a tragic and unforeseen accident but said the zoo would continue to use the tyres for its elephants.
He said tyres were commonly used in zoos around the world as a form of enrichment for elephants.
"We have removed the tyre that caused the death but tyres out in the yard will remain," he said.
The elephant calf has been described by staff as a very playful character, loved by many at the zoo.
Zookeepers say Sanook's mother Num-Oi has been spending time alone on Wednesday and suggest that this might be her grieving process.
"Our keepers are keeping a very close eye on them," Mr Tanner said of the herd.
The death of Sanook is also having an impact on the zookeepers.
"Our elephant team are devastated, they are all extremely upset about the situation but they are extremely professional people and they wanted to tend to the elephant herd first," Mr Tanner said.
Sanook's death came as shock as he was playing energetically and suckling from Num-Oi as usual on Tuesday.
CCTV footage showed him playing with the suspended tyre in his barn on Tuesday evening when he managed to manoeuvre it in an unusual way that caused his head to become caught.
An autopsy confirmed that the pressure on his neck prevented him breathing.
"We were worried about infectious disease. That was our first thought because there was no signs of trauma," the zoo's head vet Dr Michael Lynch said.
The timing is bittersweet for zoo staff with Asian elephant Dokkoon 22-months pregnant and due on Thursday.
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