Brookfield Zoo Loses its One-Week-Old Female Captive Dolphin [VIDEO]

Earlier this month the Brookfield Zoo had welcomed a new member after its bottlenose dolphin Allie,26, gave birth to a healthy female calf weighing 40 pounds, but the baby dolphin died suddenly Thursday.

The birth of the baby dolphin was publicly announced and the zoo officials had even video recorded the birth of the calf. But the zoo is now devastated as the one week old baby dolphin died Thursday morning after its health declined suddenly and rapidly.

It was a sad day for the zoo officials. Prior to this, Allie gave birth to a stillborn calf in 2009. Again in 2010 she gave birth to a female calf, Tajiah, who died in 2012 due to complications from stomach ulcer. She was paired with Semo, who is the oldest male dolphin in human care.

According to the zoo spokeswoman, Sondra Katzen, the calf , which had not been named, was born on Friday at 11 and died on Thursday 11.45 a.am.

"This was devastating to everyone in our zoo family, but particularly to the dolphin staff," said zoo spokesman Bill Zeigler. "Our primary concern now is for the well-being of Allie, who is being monitored closely."

The zoo vets noticed a quick decline in the calf as she was not nursing overnight. The vets did their best to treat her and also performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the calf to save her but in vain.

Dr. Michael Adkesson, the Chicago Zoological Society's vice president of clinical medicine, who was present during the calf's birth, said that once a calf is born, the first 30 days are extremely critical and crucial as they have so much to learn and it is one of the most difficult phases, reports CBS Local.

Since the birth of the calf, both Allie and the calf were closely monitored by the zoo officials. Reports state that at the moment Allie is doing fine and is in good health. She has joined the other schools of female dolphins.

The Zoo's Seven Seas exhibit was closed after the birth of the calf so that it could bond well with mother Allie. It will be opened to the public on Saturday.

According to statistics from a 43-year-old wild dolphin research program in Sarasota, Florida, the mortality rates of neonatal calves in the first 30 days of life are very high, reports NBC Chicago.

The officials plan on conducting a necropsy on the calf to trace the cause of her death.