Sitting in her office, surrounded by elephant pictures, zookeeper Lucy Truelson's voice cracks when she talks about Man Jai.
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she → sit → Jai
She watched the Asian elephant's birth in 2013 to mum Kulab.
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She → watch → Kulab
She was there when he had an operation to remove his tusks — broken during rough play — in 2021.
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he → have → 2021
And she was with the cheeky nine-year-old who loved to eat dates when he got unexpectedly sick with elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV).
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he → love → herpesvirus
The virus, which has no cure, usually affects Asian elephants younger than Man Jai.
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which → have → Jai
"The team worked day and night with him, and he was super brave," she says.
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she → work → him
"We were all extremely devastated when we lost the fight."
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we → devastate → fight
It's been three years since Man Jai died.
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Jai → die → ?
But Ms Truelson hopes a new vaccine trial happening today can prevent the same fate for the other young elephants at Werribee Open Range Zoo, and around the world.
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trial → hop → world
With nearly 30 years in the job, Ms Truelson's seen plenty of life and death.
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Truelson → see → life
They're all so precious, each individual," she says.
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she → say → ?
But EEHV can progress rapidly, with massive internal bleeding leading to death within just 24 hours.
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bleeding → progress → hours
A common, but deadly disease
Tabitha Hoornweg, a veterinary scientist at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, has been researching how EEHV works and how to stop it since 2019.
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EEHV → research → 2019
Her team is one of three groups around the world, along with teams in the US and the UK, that are developing and trialling vaccines.
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that → develop → vaccines
"All elephants have this virus or get this virus somewhere during their lives," she says.
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she → have → lives
"However, for some younger elephants, when they first get in contact with this virus, they get very, very ill.
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they → get → virus
"
This is well documented in elephants under human care, but there is also evidence it occurs in the wild.
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it → document → wild
"It's been estimated that at least 100 to 150 wild calves have also died from this disease," Dr Hoornweg says.
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Hoornweg → estimate → disease
The vaccine developed by Dr Hoornweg's team, which trains the elephant's immune system to recognise the virus, was tested on six older elephants in Dutch zoos about three years ago.
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which → develop → zoos
While the elephants didn't have any dangerous side effects, the research only showed the vaccine was safe.
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vaccine → have → effects
"Now we also want to know whether it's effective to protect the young ones," Dr Hoornweg says.
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Hoornweg → want → ones
So far 11 elephant calves have been vaccinated across Europe.
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calves → vaccinate → Europe
Three young elephants from Werribee Zoo are the first from Australia to join a vaccine trial.
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elephants → join → trial
Since Man Jai died, elephants at the zoo have undergone weekly PCR and blood tests for EEHV so zookeepers can immediately detect if one of the animals is ill.
"Not all elephants that have participated in Europe are monitored in the same way," Dr Hoornweg says.
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Hoornweg → die → way
Copping a faceful of 'trunk wash'
Taking a PCR test for elephants isn't as simple as with humans where you shove a swab up a nose.
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you → cop → nose
Werribee keepers have to teach an elephant how to work with them.
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keepers → have → them
Ms Truelson says they take it in stages with plenty of "behaviour reinforcers", aka fruit treats.
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they → say → reinforcers
The first step is to insert a large syringe full of saline into one trunk nostril.
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step → insert → nostril
The elephants are trained to then immediately raise their trunk up and let it all drain down for 20 seconds to get all "that beautiful goodness" in there.
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it → train → goodness
"Trunk wash", saline mixed with dirt and whatever else the elephant has been up to that day, is then blown into a plastic bag and tested for a variety of viruses including EEHV.
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elephant → mix → EEHV
"[When they're first learning] it's very cute.
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it → learn → ?
They might get saline in, and they want to blow it out really quick because they know that's the next step, and they're excited.
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they → get → it
"
This has also led to the occasional faceful of trunk wash, Ms Truelson says.
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Truelson → lead → wash
But it's all part of the learning process and building trust between elephant and keeper.
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it → build → elephant
Preparing to vaccinate an elephant
In the barn where the calves will be vaccinated there's an unmistakeable waft of farm in the air.
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calves → prepare → air
Werribee Zoo veterinarian Natalie Rourke says.
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Rourke → say → ?
"Smells like horses and hay and poo … it's good for the soul."
Dr Rourke is one of two veterinarians doing the vaccinating, but she's mostly here to listen to the keepers.
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she → do → keepers
They train me as much as they train the calves … and they often have to retrain me, so I very much appreciate the guidance."
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I → train → guidance
The nine zookeepers follow a well-practised routine.
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zookeepers → follow → routine
Tiny magnets tell each person what their job is, there's a check in for how they're feeling, and there's even a few jokes.
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they → tell → person
…and 15 more, not listed.
The Aporia