In the wee hours of the morning on Valentine’s Day (February 14), a group of campers at the Wild Animal Park’s Roar & Snore sleepover were roused from their slumber by the sound of elephants trumpeting. It wasn’t until the sun came up in the morning, though, that they discovered an elephant had been born. These lucky campers had experienced an elephant herd announcing the birth of its newest member!
To learn more, and see the little cutie for myself, I went to the Park today and chatted with Curtis Lehman, an animal care supervisor. What a tiny boy the calf is, compared to his mother, Ndlula, but he instantly won my heart. When I arrived, keepers had just finished cleaning the main exhibit yard and were letting the herd back in. Mom wandered over to a mud wallow, and Baby (the calf does not have a name yet, so that’s what the keepers call him for now) stuck to her like glue on her right side. Ndlula scooped up some mud with her trunk and splashed it on her left side, scooped up some more and splashed it on her back, and then scooped up another trunkful and splashed it on her right side, where Baby was standing. Boy, did he get a faceful of mud! I was shocked, but Curtis just chuckled and explained that mama elephants sometimes get pretty focused on their own needs first; Baby didn’t seem to be any worse for wear.
This is Ndlula’s second calf; her firstborn is Vus’Musi (or Moose), who turns 6 on February 23. Usually, an elephant at the beginning stages of labor shows some signs of discomfort and the calf inside her shifts in preparation for birth. Keepers will put the expectant mother in the smaller upper yard and begin night watches (so far, all but one of our calves have been born at night). In this case, though, Ndlula seemed pretty “normal” when the keepers left for the day, so she was allowed to stay in the main yard with the rest of the herd. And that’s where she gave birth, at around 2 a.m., surrounded by her herd to offer protection and comfort!
After spending his first full day in the upper yard, so keepers could observe calf and mother to make sure both were doing well, Baby now has free reign to explore the large yard during the day and get to know the rest of the herd. Curtis says the calf is an agile little guy, already learning how to navigate the hills and valleys of the big yard. The four other youngsters in the herd are excited to have a new playmate and try to get close to Baby for a play session or two. But he’s still sticking close to Mom for now, as it should be. Come see our newest love!
Debbie Andreen is an associate editor for the San Diego Zoo.
Here’s video of the calf’s first day…
ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE!!!
For a little variety, there is a Russian version of the event at zooborns dot com and click on elephants in the left column and you will find this version as the 3d item shown.
Congratulations and thank you so much for the video..he’s absolutely adorable! I admit I don’t know much about elephants but I”m keen to learn. I was amazed how in the video when the baby was trying to run with the other young calfs that a few of the adults seemed to step in and keep him back. I’m assuming that is for his own safety as he’s only a few days old and may get hurt? It’s amazing how they all work together as a team.
Fascinating that they all trumpet. He is adorable! He did not know what to do about that step though. Too cute! I look forward to hearing what he is named.
Awwww…. How exciting !! Congratulations SDWAP !! I saw a little pic of a baby elephant recently born on the internet, but I didnt think it was ours ! He is perfectly adorable !!
I just watched the video, and Baby is a cutie! I love how he roams around the large yard with mom and the herd. It appears that everyone enjoys the presence of this new little addition. I can’t wait to find out what name he will receive!
Well, well!!! The first baby elephant calf of 2010! A little earlier than I thought, too! Give Ndula a big hug from me! We already know that she is a great mom because her oldest calf, Moose, has grown to be a big elephant boy. BTW, Happy 6th Birthday to Moose next week!
I watched the video of the new calf, and he is as cute as a button! He’s so small that he can walk right under his mom. That won’t last for too much longer when he starts to grow a lot more in the next few months. I was laughing when the baby calf was trying to get his front foot off the step and was very hesitant in doing that! I’m very glad that this calf was allowed to be born outside with the rest of the herd. That’s how the elephants do it in the wild, and the calf is well protected by the herd, mostly aunts and cousins. Everybody at the Snore & Roar had a very special treat when they heard all of the ellies, and they probably felt like they were in Africa on a safari when they heard all of that commotion from the ellies, something that they will remember for a long time!
Now, when do the other 2 momma elephants have their baby ellies this year? Anyway you all can give us some due dates? Hope so! Let us all know, PLEASE?? Thanks!
Sounds like Msholo is doing well at WAP. I know that he will do well with the other ellies when he’s ready to be with them. What I want to know is how well he’ll do with Mabu, the other male ellie? That will be a very interesting interaction between these 2 bulls! How old is Msholo, and is he on the meet the elephant list?
Let us know how the newest baby calf is doing and when the other 2 ellie moms will be having their babies!
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
Moderator’s note: I’ll have to add his bio to the Meet the Elephants page…Ah, more work!
Congratulations mama!!! OMG baby is soooooooooooooooooooo cute!! I never knew that the others trumpet when a new baby is welcomed into the heard. Amazing information. Thank-You so much.
He is way too cute. I have to agree with #3 Kathy — I just love the part of the video where Mommy grabs his little tail to stop him from walking away with the other young elephants and then wraps her trunk around him. Awwww…….
How I want to hug and kiss that beautiful little face!! How are you able to get a weight on him so quickly? (the video said @ 224 lbs)
Moderator’s note: There’s a scale in the barn that the baby can walk across and the keepers can get his weight without him being the worse for wear
Thanks so much–love the video and blog. He is sooooo cute. I can’t wait to see him on my next visit.
He is just so precious! I love how the family just rejoiced at his birth and trumpted the good news…what lucky campers to hear such wonderful sounds. Are some other mommies due soon? perhaps the birth and joyous trumpting can be filmed, I would love to see/hear it!
Moderator’s note: We have two more babies due to arrive this year!
What a wonderful addition to ‘the family’. Congratulations elephants and SDZ.
The Captive Elephant Index indicates that Msholo is a year older than Mobu – however.
I enjoyed the cam on the baby elephant that was born on February 14 in the wee hours of the morning. He is so cute I could just hug him. I love the way his momma grabbed him to keep him from running away. Congratulations to his momma and to the baby elephant. Give him a kiss for me.
Congratulations on the newest little addition to the elephant family. He is absolutely precious!!
Thank you Debbie. How exciting!! Those lucky roar and snore guests were very priviliged to be at the zoo for the birth. How cool that elephants greet the new babies by trumpeting for all to hear. They are such social animals. You must’ve enjoyed seeing such a brand new baby! This would be a pleasant break from moderating, yes?!
Debbie responds: It was, indeed!!
Debbie, you have to go on holidays eventually and when you do I WANT YOUR JOB. You get around don’t you.
I can’t stop watching the video of when his Mom grabs his tail to get him to stop.
Debbie responds: Not as often as I’d like
Congratulations!! The baby is So Cute!!! I really want to go back to see him soon!!! Thanks to the care takers snd staff for taking good care of him and his mom Ndlula and all of your elephants.
Love,
Seiko
Any ideas for names yet? When will he be named?
Cool!
And what a love he is! There is nothing more touching than the way the herd reacts to a new birth and protecting that new life for years to come.
He is absolutely adorable! Will there be a contest to name the baby elephant? How fortunate for those guests who got to hear the celebration and see the newborn baby!
The new calf is soooo cute!! He wanders aimlessly with his trunk waving all over the place! Oh….Happy Valentine’s Day!!
I was just taking a break from the Panda Cam and saw that you have a new baby. The post was very interesting and the video was just so cute. When Baby was thinking about taking that step and moving his foot back and forth, it reminded me of Yunior taking his first steps out of the den. After watching the video I had to find out more about the elephants so I read the “Meet the Elephants”. What I didn’t know is that females without babies can nurse the other calves in the herd? How is that possible? I’m sure there is a previous post on this, so if the Moderator would please point me in the the right direction, I would love to learn more. Thank you!!
P.S. Are you the Moderator for all the blogs? If so, you must be very busy.. Thank you!
Debbie responds: Your question sounds like a good topic for a future post. And yes, I moderate the entire blog section.
It looks like on the cam that all the babies are in one pen and playing very rough with the new one or is that another baby? I guess they really like the mud all the rain produces. They are all so cute. Thanks for all that you do for the fans!
Hi Debbie. Hope all is well with you. I have followed Elephants much longer than I have Pandas. It still amazes me the tightness of the family unite. How all unite to protect the new arrival and an injured member. Especially the female members. It would be a wonderful world if humans could adopt the same life style. boy, that would be something for all to strive for. One person at a time. We can learn alot from the animal kingdom. I wish the Pandas could adopt this famiy unit for for simple protection in numbers. Sorry you are not getting away without a question
Are all the animals at SDZ rented to you as the Pandas are? Have a great weekend.
Debbie responds: Like the pandas, we do have some animals on loan to us, and some of our animals are on loan at other zoos, but that’s a whole new topic. Perhaps a blog post some day?
Wow what a cutie pie. Are we going to get a chance to name him. Since he was born on Valentines Day I think a good name would be Valentino. I love how social elephants are and the whole herd was so excited to see a new baby.
Worried about Baby since you cut from cam closeup of him earlier to wide shot of yard. Is he okay?
Hi. I noticed that you haven’t written about Cookie and Mary in the elephant blogs. Are they ok and are which elephant(s) have they been intro’d to? Thanks
Animal Care Staff responds: Cookie and Mary are doing well. The four original Park elephants spend the day out in Yard 1 together. Both girls get along with everyone when they meet on fence lines, but Mary likes to make sure they know she is the boss with occasional sparring.
Oh wow! He is so adoreable….I loved watching the video.
How long will the herd protect this little one? It would have been amazing that somehow the trumpeting of the herd could have been taped. That would have been awesome……TYSVM for the info. How soon will the little one be named?
Debbie responds: We’ll be sure to let everyone know when an appropriate name has been selected for Baby. And the herd will continue to protect their young until they are old enough to be one of the protectors
Never mind answering my previous blog. I see that the little one is fine. Thanks–and congratulations!
I have been wondering – how do the babies know which elephant is its mother?
There is an interesting article entitled “The Elephant Soap Opera – Delicate hierarchies make blending herds challenging for Zoo” in yesterday’s Union Tribune. You can find this article on Sign On San Diego (dot) com, and then search “The Elephant Soap Opera”. Its focus is the elephants at the San Diego Zoo. It is written by UT staff writer Jeanette Steele. The article also lists the “Cast of Pachyderms”.
Call him Urembo!
Supposedly Swahili for “beauty”…
Uri for short!
#7 Chari Mercier – Swzi is due april/may and Umoya is due june/july
*Swazi
I think the ONLY name for a male elephant born on Valentine’s Day is………..Valentino (of course!). He is precious. Congrats to all.
I have a good name for the little boy: Mvulana. It means ”boy” in Siswahili. My adopted child knows more than enough Siswahili so I asked him this morning. Brrrrrrr… my heating is out! Curse this Chicago weather and Mother Nature!!!!!!
It’s not true that female Asian elephants don’t grow tusks. I worked at The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee as a dentist for the elephants for a while, and I saw little stubs of tusks. So don’t you go thinking that female Asians don’t grow tusks.
To #40:
How do you pronounce Mvulana?
After being housebound on Saturday, due to the huge rainstorm here in San Diego, we were so happy to finally visit the Wild Animal Park this past Sunday. We guess everyone else had the same idea, as the WAP was very crowded.
The Elephant Exhibit was first on our list. When we arrived, we noticed that the herd was grazing far out in the yard. All the elephants were grazing on a lush pile of hay and seemed to be quite happy. While at the Overlook, something frightened the herd and suddenly all the elephants started trumpeting and roaring an alert. The herd immediately surrounded the baby calf and Ndlula. It was very difficult to spot the calf from the Overlook because Ndlula has him trained to stay underneath her tummy. The herd kept a close circle around mom and calf for about 10 minutes. Gradually, everyone calmed down and the “protectors” began to wander off. We never found the cause of all this concern. It was just a false alarm. Due to the large crowd at the Overlook, we decided to walk down to the Elephant Viewing Patio to get a better view.
While viewing the elephants from the Patio area, the young elephants began to wander towards the pool to enjoy their playtime. Ingadze is almost a year old now and very sweet. He was having a great time playing and running. At one point, Ingadze slipped and fell due to the wet ground. No harm done. He was up in seconds and continued playing. By the way, the two-week-old calf is absolutely adorable. There was lots of “oohing and aahing”.
At the nearby Lion Camp, another favorite exhibit, we found the majestic male Izu and his beautiful mate Mina enjoying the afternoon sunshine. Izu was watching the guests and Mina was fast asleep in the sun. We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying all of our animal friends at the WAP.
All in all, we had a wonderful SUNday.
Debbie responds: Thank you for sharing your delightfully sunny day at the Park with our readers!
What is happening with all the lights on at the elephant exhibit corrall tonight (6:30 pm your time) ??? are you filming something? The ellies are sure curious too …. all wandering up close … ???
Moderator’s note: The Elephant Team has some soft lighting on at night as part of the “baby watch” they conduct during a new calf’s first six weeks. The lights look bright on Elephant Cam because of the surrounding darkness.
I notice the new baby attempts to suckle from anything that moves. I think he has a tape worm
AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! Just too sweet! Can’t wait until my next visit to San Diego to see him!
You pronounce it (m-VOO`-lah-nah). Thank you again, my adopted child!
I’m new to cam watching. Is there a way to get the cam shot bigger than 3 1/2″ x 2 1/2″?
Moderator’s note: I don’t believe so.
Isn’t it kiSwahili?
Moderator … Thank you for your response to my question …
Will Ndula be having any more calves after Baby grows up?
Moderator’s note: Possibly. One never knows for sure about these things
yay!
HI, Congratulation’s to Ndula on the birth of her new addition to her family. I saw picture’s on the elephant web site took a break from the elephant web cam and noticed Ndula had given birth to a new baby boy and he look’s ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE. I have loved elephant’s since i was 11 year’s of age, iam now 46 and love them even more.When i come back to Sandi Ago i will make a trip to the zoo especially to see the elephant’s. I stay in Scotland and i have a flat here and it is in every room with elephant’s i have over 150 elephant, that’ how much i love them.
We had such a delightful trip with the Panda Convention to the WAP on Sunday the 21st of March. Of course our first stop was to see the new baby! The “narrator” for the day was so taken with the little guy. She wanted to name him Valentino, or something that would be indicative of his birthdate. Baby is so adorable. I have never seen an elephant that tiny! The elephants were in their enclosure as the yard was being cleaned. We were able to see Baby fairly up close with Ndlula. It was cute to watch him nurse with his trunk up alongside her body and his rear foot up in the air! Quite the balancing act. We waited and waited, and finally they were let out into the field where food had been spread out for them. Ndlula kept herself between Baby and the gate and the rest of the ellies who were in quite the hurry to get to the goodies. When all was clear, she took off herself with the little guy running along behind. Oh my! We were chuckling and “how cuting” as he ran along behind her! His little legs can move! And his ears were just a flappin’. The largest of the other kids must’ve been Moose. And I think I recognized Khosi and Ingadze, but not sure. Now they are just the “kids”.
We also were able to get a real close up of Mina and Izu. Izu was on top of the old jeep asleep. And Mina was on top of a crate right up against the glass viewing area. She was also asleep. She was only the width of the glass away from us. How remarkable! I’ve never been that close to a lion. She’s gorgeous.
It was absolutely amazing to see “for real” all the animals that I’ve only read about in these blogs. Thank you SDZ for providing such a fantastic environment for the animals and a learning experience for us humans! How can one not support conservationism after seeing all these guys?!
Moderator’s note: Thank you for sharing your day with our readers, Diana S.!
Once the next two calves are born to Swazi and Umoya, are any of the other elephants due to give birth next year and is Mabu going to be allowed to breed with the females still?
Oh how I wish I could zoom in with the camera…about 4:30 PM EST, I think I can see Baby along with 2 of the other calves having a great time in what looks like a wrestling match. I hope we will get an update soon on Baby and preparations for the other 2 calves that are expected soon.
Will Lungile be allowed to breed again in the near future? It’s sad she lost her baby two years ago.
Elephant Team responds: Yes, she is free to breed again.
Two months is plenty of time to name a calf. Are you waiting to make sure the calf survives?
Is Baby ok? How come no name yet?
Moderator’s note: Baby is fine! A name should be announced soon.
Most of the SDWAP calves actually aren’t named until 2-4 months until after they are born (Ingadze was named in June whilst he was born in March)
I hear the matriarch, Swazi, is due to deliever extremely soon. How much longer? Oh, and what’s up with Mabu? I thought male elephants DON’T look after their young? Yet, he is so caring to HIS offspring, especially Kamile.
Moderator’s note: Swazi gave birth to her first calf March 12 about 8:30 p.m.
never mind about the Swazi thing; CONGRADULATIONS! THE LEADER IS NOW A MOTHER! INGADZE DOESN”T HAVE TO WAIT TO BE A BRIG BROTHER ANYMORE (okay, half brother, but they have the same father)
Do they?
But really, what’s with Mabu looking after his kids?
Moderator’s note: Yes, Ingadze has a new half brother.
Congrats Swazi! We want details! Hope all is well with everyone.
Moderator’s note: All is well! For photos, visit the San Diego Zoo’s Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/SanDiegoZoo
Congratulations to Swazi and the SDZ. All these babies – lovely.
Moderator’s note: Thank you, Susan. Photos of the newest calf are now posted in our What’s New? slide show and the Elephant Cam Photo Gallery.
I am so excited about Baby 2. Can’t wait to hear the details. How is the herd handling all of this? It looks like there is some pushing to be near Baby 2. Is Swazi being an overprotective first time mom?
Ndula’s new calf has an offical name now! Lutsandvo meaning “love in SisWati
“INGADZE DOESN”T HAVE TO WAIT TO BE A BRIG BROTHER ANYMORE”
Ingadze already didn’t have to wait to be a big brother, and he now has *two* little brothers on his father’s side: Lutsandvo and the new baby.
“But really, what’s with Mabu looking after his kids?”
They all have their own personalities (elephantalities?) and I guess Mabhulane’s includes a wish to look after his kids.
Congrats to first time mom Karishma at Whipsnade as well. She gave birth to a baby boy on April 12th too!
I just saw the warmest interaction between Ndlula, Musi, and the new little guy. Ndlula was very tolerant of Musi who was close. He then moved on. Ndlula moved up closer to him and the little guy ran over to Musi, right up to him, and then whirled around with his back to Musi and his ears flared. He then backed up to Musi so he could touch him. He spent about a minute very close to Musi and Musi was on his best behaviour. Then the little guy ran off to his Mom. Very interesting.
“I just saw the warmest interaction between Ndlula, Musi, and the new little guy. Ndlula was very tolerant of Musi who was close. He then moved on. Ndlula moved up closer to him and the little guy ran over to Musi, right up to him, and then whirled around with his back to Musi and his ears flared. He then backed up to Musi so he could touch him. He spent about a minute very close to Musi and Musi was on his best behaviour. Then the little guy ran off to his Mom. Very interesting.”
Always cool to see Vus’musi be a gentle big brother! Which new little guy was this, Lutsandvo or Swazi’s son?
It was Lutsandvo.
Congrats to Shanti at Houston Zoo! She gave birth to a baby boy named Baylor (there is a video on their website of new baby). What is with all the boys lately? Must be something in the water.
I’m suggesting Ng’ombe (‘Ngo for short?) for Swazi’s new calf, from the Swahili word for “bullock”.
Not that it’ll become his name – but I tried
How about Prince since his mother is the matriarch.
I think I just saw Sawzi run off the other little guys when they tried to play with her new calf. Is she being over protective? Can we get an update on life in the herd? Elephants fascinate me.
Noah Tafolla, narrator and producer for Wonderland did an excellent program on the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park recently which included video of Ndlula’s baby both in the yard and in the field with the other elephants. Is there any way the WAP could provide excerpts that us elephant lovers could enjoy?
Moderator’s note: We do not own rights to the program, so cannot post it on our Web site.