Tula-Tu, the Oregon Zoo’s 21-month-old Asian elephant calf, is fighting elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV), a virus that can turn deadly in just a few days. Congress should fund research into vaccines that protect young elephants from every strain of EEHV, not just one.

This family has lost a calf to this virus before. In 2018, Tula-Tu’s half-sister Lily died suddenly of EEHV when she was only 6 years old.

Tula-Tu was supposed to have more protection. This summer she received two doses of a vaccine designed to block the most common strain. But the strain now in her blood is a different one. After her caretakers noticed she had less energy and was acting differently, veterinarians started her on antiviral drugs and plasma transfusions. A week later, she is stable. “She’s not out of the woods yet, but these findings provide grounds for cautious optimism,” said Dr. Carlos Sanchez, the zoo’s director of animal health, according to The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Tula-Tu’s fight shows both the promise and the gap. Early testing and new treatments are giving calves a real chance. But a vaccine that covers only one strain leaves young elephants exposed to the others.

EEHV hides in nearly all Asian elephants, both in the wild and in zoos. Calves face the greatest danger between roughly ages 1 and 8, as the protection passed down from their mothers fades. Around 200 deaths from the virus have been confirmed in the countries where Asian elephants live in the wild.

Protecting an endangered species is a goal people of every political background can share. Congress, including Oregon’s lawmakers in Washington, can make it happen by funding research that closes the gap between strains.

Sign the petition to tell Congress to fund vaccines for every EEHV strain, before another calf like Lily is lost.