OKC Zoo officials investigating death of baby dolphin

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Oklahoma City Zoo officials say they will re-evaluate the zoo's dolphin program following the death of a baby Atlantic bottle-nosed dolphin.

The five-month-old dolphin, named Lily, died Sunday. The dolphin's veterinarian and a team of pathologists have begun a necropsy (animal autopsy) at a Stillwater laboratory.

But officials said it may take as long as two weeks before a cause of death is known because it will take that long for test results to return.

Although the stubborn Streptococcus zooepidemicus bacteria may be responsible for the dolphin's death, officials said that a dolphin calf only has a survival rate of 40 percent during its first year of life.

"Three out of five don't make it to one year of age, and in the wild, their odds aren't even that good," said Jack Grisham, the zoo's director of animal management.

"It is just one of those species that is very difficult to raise."

Oklahoma City's zoo just resumed its dolphin shows in late October after treating Lily with antibiotics for difficulties similar to the kind she experienced on Sunday.

The Aquaticus exhibit lost another dolphin, 5-year-old Harley, to Streptococcus zooepidemicus bacteria shortly after Lily was born in June.

Harley was not the first dolphin to die of the infection in the exhibit's 14-year history. Two others, Sally and Turbo, died from the illness in 1998.

"That's a frustration that we have here," Alexander said in October. "We have never been able to pinpoint a cause."

Zoo officials hoped the bacteria problem was over after they closed the exhibit throughout 1999 and spent $212,500 on the most extensive renovations in Aquaticus' history. That work included sandblasting the dolphin pool, smoothing walls, repairing cracks, and replacing filtration and ozone systems.

The zoo also hired three water-related specialists to make sure the dolphins' living environment is contamination- free.

Oklahoma City Zoological Trust members recently renewed their agreement with those specialists.

"We will evaluate our program again, just like we do every time we lose an animal. We want to make sure we are doing everything we can in their best interests," Grisham said.

The Aquaticus building will remain open, but dolphin and sea lion shows have been suspended until further notice.