Umoya with her little one, born May 2010.
I guess now is as good a time as any for a quick update on our three little munchkins, all born this year to the African elephant herd at the Wild Animal Park. (Read Curtis’ previous post, A May Elephant Baby.)
Lutsandvo, aka Looty, is now 4 months old and 480 pounds (218 kilograms). Could he be any cuter? He’s currently just about everybody’s favorite baby. Looty’s at that phase where he always comes over to us and solicits attention, and who are we to deny it? He loves to suck on our fingers and have his tongue scratched.
You’d think his personality would make him a perfect training candidate when it comes to being weighed, but it’s just the opposite: chewing on a fence is more reinforcing to him than following his keeper to get onto the scale. We always have to walk his mother, Ndlula, over the scale first and hope he stops on the scale when he decides to look for Mom. Everything in his world is when he decides it!
Ingadze and Looty enjoy some mud time!
Looty’s favorite elephant playmate is Ingadze, now 15 months old; they both constantly wrestle and play together. He’s very social, a lot like Khosi was when she was younger. You can tell he’s very comfortable with his surroundings and acts like he owns the place. He’s eating a little browse, hay, and pellets now, so he’s coming along just fine. Big brother ‘Musi has been nice to him, and he still enjoys “nursing” off of Lungile. I’ve even seen him having shoving matches with Swazi’s baby over Lungile’s mammaries (Lungile is very tolerant). Looty is very entertaining to watch!
Swazi’s baby, born in April, is already 405 pounds (184 kilograms). He’s very tall looking, long-legged like his mom. This little guy is very independent and loves to hang out with his dad, Mabu, and yes, he still “nurses” off of him. Trying to get him to stay close to Mom when we need to separate her from the herd is a big challenge for us. He’s either with Lungile or with Mabu, and his mother isn’t as sharp with the concept of having her baby nearby like Moya is with her baby. For instance, Keith (one of our keepers) can say to Moya, “Go get ‘im,” and Moya will turn and go get her son and return with him. If we say to Swazi, “Go get ‘im,” she looks at you as if to say “Get who?” We actually have to walk Swazi over to the vicinity of her calf and hope that he decides to join her before proceeding forward with our plans.
Swazi’s calf will also sleep anywhere he decides to plop down. I’ve seen him all alone in the dirt in full sunlight. Who needs shade? Unlike Lutsandvo, he weighs himself. As soon as we open a gate to have access to the scale, he pretty much runs in and stands on the scale. He also enjoys playing with Ingadze but is currently starting to hang out with Looty more and more each day. With his personality and his mom being the dominant female, you can tell that someday he will own the place.
Umoya’s baby, born in May, is now 277 pounds (126 kilograms) and has graduated from our 5-week, 24-hour baby watch that we’ve done with all our calves. He still loves water. If we want to weigh him, all we need is a hose. He likes it when we squirt the water directly into his mouth, just like Cha Cha, our Asian elephant that’s now at the Zoo’s Elephant Odyssey. Moya’s boy thinks his big sister, Kami, is great, and she lets him head-butt her like she used to let Ingadze and Lutsandvo do. He’s playing more and more with his little half brothers and hangs out with them at the small drinker. We’ve seen him doggy-paddle in the big pool with Mom twice already. I told you he loves water. Umoya’s incision has almost completely healed, by the way. So there you have it: Ingadze has three new playmates. Let’s get ready to rummmble!
Curtis Lehman is a animal care manager at the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park.
Watch all the elephant action daily on Elephant Cam!
Thank you, Curtis, for the update. We visited the WAP on Sunday and were enchanted by the entire herd, especially the three babies. We loved the 11 am run for the treats. Delightful!
Names?
Moderator’s note: Stay tuned!
Thanks so much for the update. We are going down Saturday to visit with the Munchkins – can’t wait.
Thank you so much for the update! I love hearing the stories from keepers’ perspective, as we viewers cannot tell what is happening with each individual elephant or calf, let alone the herd.
It has been such an exciting year for the elephants with the birth of three calves. I sure hope I was one of the keepers observing all the fun activities!
What a great post…. I will be in SD in August and besides attending the Black/White Overnight, and I really want to visit the babies at WAP as part of my trip. Is it on the way up to Yosimite? Is there a good time to visit to see some activity with the babies?
Moderator’s note: The Wild Animal Park is 35 miles north of the San Diego Zoo, so yes, it’s on the way to Yosemite
A good to time see the action is 11 a.m. when the elephants rush out for their late-morning treats!
Thanks, Curtis. That was a beautiful writeup and one can actually visualize the elephants and the babies as you describe them. Same goes for the moms and their relationships with their sons. It also goes for the interplay amongst all three with Ingadze and the older siblings Khosi, Punga and Kami and, of course, Moose. I have enjoyed all your writeups and can tell you must really enjoy your work. Thanks to you and all the other elephant keepers that make visits to the Wild Animal Park’s African elephant exhibit so very enjoyable.
What’s with the camera? It does not include the pool and has not for several hours. Hope it can be corrected. Last night we were watching the elephants, including the little ones, playing in the pool until after 8 p.m. Now it shows a good chunk of the edifice it is mounted on and only about half the width of the yard. If one cannot be physically present to see the activity, the opportunity to see activity on the webcam goes a long way for their enjoyment. Please. Thanks.
Moderator’s note: The Elephant Cam is not manned at night–sorry!
This blog is the perfect way to end the workday!!!!!! Thanks
“He’s either with Lungile or with Mabu, and his mother isn’t as sharp with the concept of having her baby nearby like Moya is with her baby. For instance, Keith (one of our keepers) can say to Moya, “Go get ‘im,” and Moya will turn and go get her son and return with him. If we say to Swazi, “Go get ‘im,” she looks at you as if to say “Get who?” We actually have to walk Swazi over to the vicinity of her calf and hope that he decides to join her before proceeding forward with our plans.”
As the matriarch, maybe Swazi is just very confident that the rest of the adults under her leadership will take very good care of her son too?
Enjoyed reading about these babies and their unique personalities and preferences. Having these three births this year seems to have complicated the training and handling of the elephants. I’m sure these babies are wonderful to observe, but it does make the keepers work much more difficult!
Curtis, thank you for writing this update and sharing your knowledge of these impressive animals. I liked your sense of humor and obvious affection for the elephants.
Hi! Just read your newest update about the 3 muskateers! I can’t believe that 2 out of the 3 calves are over 400 pounds already, especially the April baby calf! That’s alot of good milk that they have been getting! I have been seeing one, two, or all three of the calves on the cams almost every day now. Thanks, cam people! I thought that was the May calf that was swimming in that big pool last week! He was really enjoying himself in that water! Looks like all 3 of these calves have developed their own personalities already. I’m glad that Lutsandvo finally has a nickname–Looty! Love it! Still waiting on names for the April and May calves, and hoping that we all can vote for names for them. When is the 4th ellie mom due to have her calf? Any due dates yet? Let us all know, ok?
Gonna go and get back on the ellie cam again before Cal gets dark. Will check in later on!
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
Moderator’s note: The next calf is due in 2011.
I LOVE watching the munchkins play with each other on the ele cam! I love ELEPHANTS!!!
I must do a return visit soon with your blog in hand. I would love to see more of the behaviors you so graphically described. Thank you so very much. There is nothing more endearing than a baby ele running with his ears flapping.
Thanks for the update. It’s great to hear that the ‘Munchkins’ are doing so well now.
Thanks for your up date on the 3 babies..They are so cute on the yard! The update just made me smile.
It is sad though that the babies seem to love Lungile so but she has no baby of her own. I know she lost
one, is she not able to have babies?
Happy july 4th to the herd and to the humans who take such care of them.
What a great job you have!
Beth
Curtis, thank you for the great information about WAP’s big babies. We saw Looty in March when we were there and we couldn’t get over what a dolly he was. It’s nice to know more about the personalities of these 3 calves. I’m sure you will have lots of interesting days ahead as these guys get even busier. It’s comforting to know these big/little ones will grow up around keepers who enjoy and respect them along with their herd of aunties, cousins, siblings & dad.
Just to let you guys know when you hit “photo gallery” on Ele Cam page it takes you to the panda photo gallery.
Moderator’s note: Oops! Thanks for the heads-up. It’s now fixed.
Thank you so much for the update. I need to do some homework on your “Meet the Elephants” page. I knew the first generation of newborns, but now I can’t match the young ones with their mother.
Love watching the elephant cam in the late afternoon and evening when there are close-ups of the “kids”.
I am so glad to see the elephant cam. I rush to the computer as soon as I get home from work to watch the boys. I love to see them wrastle and butt each other. I think they all have minds of their own. they make me laugh, like my students.
Thanks for this humorous, descriptive update on the littlest “munchkins”. I never would have come up with that name for them. They are so sweet and cute, it just makes you want to hug and smooch with them. I hope I will be able to see them before they grow out of their munchkin-ness. Maybe later this year.
Curtis, you are a great writer. You should write childrens’ books about baby animals.
You’re still tinkering with the camera. Are you going to leave it aimed to cover the pool for early morning viewing?
So there’s already ANOTHER baby on the way, WOW!!! Who’s the expectant mom?
I have always wondered why the San Diego Zoo/WAP (probably the most famous in the world) does not have an Asian Elephant breeding program? Don’t get me wrong, I love the fact that EO is dedicated to caring for San Diego’s Asian “Golden Girls” (plus Tembo). It just seems odd that you guys are not more involved with this highly endangered species. Does it have anything to do with the EEHV virus?
Litsemba “The Drama Queen” or “Samba” is expecting.
It looked like a young one kept trying to nurse from Mabu in the pool, while Mabu was showing interest in the ladies. Was afraid the young one might get stepped on.
#23 Deb
While it is possible that we will establish a breeding program for Asian elephants in the future, currently we are fully focused on caring for the elephants at Elephant Odyssey.
love the updates…can keep up with san diego wild animal park elephant herd all the way across the other side of the world, can wait to visit America next year and the two zoos are on top of my “must see” list. i cant believe how many elephants have been born at your zoo! and another due next year! is she the only other elephant that is pregnant?
thanks for the update and keep the coming!!!
cheers,
Tom
Brisbane, AUSTRALIA
Thank you so much for an interesting update on the three munchkins! I loved reading about the interactions of the herd, especially how all the babies play together. You paint a great picture of the differences in weighing techniques; you all must have to stay on your toes to come up with a plan that may or may not work with any given baby/mom combination. Keep up the posts as the babies grow and play!