Here’s Musi as a two year old.
While we here at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park wait for Swazi’s second calf to arrive, let’s focus on Vus’musi (Musi). He is 8½ years old now and is a growing subadult, weighing around 5,600 pounds (2,540 kilograms). With his #1 play pal, Lungile, now over at the Reid Park Zoo in Arizona, Musi spends most of his playtime with adult male Msholo. Lately, Musi’s been trying to usurp adult female Umngani’s ranking over him, and when he’s with his mom, Ndlula, he pretty much has the upper hand. When his mom is separated out, he cautiously tests his hierarchy status without her. Remember, these are wild animals with normal, wild-animal behavior.
For more than eight years, Umngani has been able to displace Musi at will when he’s been away from his mom; but Musi isn’t little anymore, and he’s just going to get bigger and bigger. Umngani has a history of always backing down when push comes to shove (with Mabu, Ndlula, Msholo, and now Musi somewhat). We know she’s the main protector of her clan (children Khosi, Ingadze, and Neepo), as well as of youngsters Kami and Emanti, so we’d like to see her not lose her rank to Musi, but the inevitability of it all is unfolding before everyone’s eyes.
Managing an ever-changing herd of African elephants is a tough and educating challenge. There are not many institutions that have this many elephants—calves, adult females, and an adult bull—hanging out together every day. We use our ability to separate them into whatever social set up we want to lessen aggression toward each other while still trying to allow our entire herd being together most of the time. We’ve separated Ndlula and her younger son, Luty, out overnight once so far, and it got us the desired effect: Musi wasn’t assertive toward Umngani for a couple of days. These animal-management decisions are well thought out, mostly dependent on what we observe daily with their behavior. It’s still only delaying the inevitable of Musi outranking Umngani someday.
There’s a lot more involved with what we do socially with the elephants, too much to write down here. Just know we also don’t want anything to go as far as an injury, but we are talking elephants here. We pretty much let them work out their own hierarchy, their own breeding, and their own raising of their families. We could always place them in the safest scenarios to have the least chance of any elephant being aggressed upon, but that would mean having every elephant separated in a different yard with just a mom and her youngest calf together. Not much of a herd, right?
Musi’s not at breeding age, but he’s right at the age where he may have been kicked out of the herd if our elephants were in the wild under a true matriarchal society, so I’d like to think he’s at an awkward age where he’s testing everything socially. Think teenager. Eventually, we might have to place him with Msholo to start our first bachelor herd, which will be something new for us as well. Just think what fun we’ll have in six years when all the boys will be around Musi’s age now!
Curtis Lehman is an animal care manager at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Read his previous post, Elephant Swazi Update: Baby Due?
I was watching the cam this morning and the little ones were all playing / rough housing. It was nice to see all 10 at the same time. We are so lucky : ). Thank you for the information and keep up the great work.
If you keep watching carefully, you will find out there are actually 12 elephants in the herd.
Any signs of the baby coming? Past the due date….Hope Momma is doing ok.
Moderator’s note: Here’s a comment Curtis sent to his previous post on Friday evening:
I decided to cover the early evening shift tonight to see what Swazi looks like, and I’d have to say that it doesn’t look like baby is coming anytime soon. I don’t see anything physiological or behavioral that says “I’m uncomfortable, and I’d like this out of me.” She looks like Swazi with a big bulge. Our latest progesterone numbers, as of Wednesday, shows that the numbers have leveled off and haven’t declined steadily (as it was looking to go in that direction last week). I may have other information on birth predictions via elephant mother sounds coming soon; that would put the birth around next Wednesday or after, but you’ll have to wait on that until Monday at the soonest. So unless baby surprises us, I’m going to sleep soundly over the weekend!
Wow. I spend my workday trying to get 30, 7 years olds (approx) to “play nice”. I wish you well!
Musi sure is getting big for his britches. He gave the girls a way to go last night. I didn’t know Umngani was the submissive one. I thought Dula was the one now that Lungile left. I have wondered if the moving of Musi to the yard with Msholo was going to happen. He needs to be shown he is not the dominant bull in the yard and his momma won’t always be there to post bond for him. He is gonna be one big bull when he grows up. Will that cause a problem and possibly lead to the transfer of another bull in the future? I absolutely love watching these guys grow up. Their learning and teaching is very interesting. Thanks so much for sharing this with us.
Thank you Curtis for taking the time to let us know what is going on here. It is fascinating and I really enjoy watching the changes in Musi, even though I also feel for Umgani. I will try to change my thinking from “stalker” to “teenager”. He really IS a teenager.
I would guess that a 5,600 lb. “teenager” is quite a handful. Whatever he wants, he gets.
I don’t envy you at all!
Curtis, thank you so much for explaining so much about the herd dynamics so that I can better understand what happened last night with Musi and Umngani. I didn’t know that Umngani had such low status in the herd. She’s such a beautiful elephant and a wonderful mother, taking such good care of her own 3 calves and letting the 2 little orphans hang around with her brood. None of the other females was willing to do this after Umoya died. I think Kami and Emanti chose her because she is so much fun and loves to play. I just love Umngani and feel sad that she gets picked on. Thank goodness she has the best little daughter in the world, her best friend, Khosi.
As you pointed out, these are wild animals and you need to let them work things out among themselves with as little human interference as possible.
I love the idea of an eventual bachelor herd for all the boys. Here at the Denver Zoo they have started one so we’ll have to see how it works out.
Thank you and all your staff for taking care of the herd so well. Even the wonderful grounds crew that works so hard every day so that our elephants have a clean and healthy place to live and lots of good food to eat.
Poppy: You have one of our Asian bull ellies.. Bodhi…. he is greatly missed by all here in Columbus…
To Dianna from Ohio: I haven’t gotten a chance to visit the new exhibit yet, but plan to in the next couple of weeks. I’ll be sure to tell Bodhi how much he is missed by you and everyone there in Columbus.
Thanks Curtis, Let’s hope Musi’s awkward stage goes without too many confrontations and that those that do occur be safe ones for all the ellies in the herd during them. At least it may give you ideas on how to handle the other male youngsters when they reach those troublesome tween years.
”We know she’s the main protector of her clan (children Khosi, Ingadze, and Neepo), as well as of youngsters Kami and Emanti, so we’d like to see her not lose her rank to Musi, but the inevitability of it all is unfolding before everyone’s eyes. ”
Curtis: Regarding your comment cited above, I am not sure what this will mean for the elephants if Musi supplants Umgani in rank in the herd. What would be the probable outcome when this take place? Are you anticipating possible danger for Umgani or her young ones?
I think you all do such a wonderful job with these elephants! Keep up the good work, and thanks for providing this great information about what is going on within the herd.
Is it your plan to send Musi to another zoo someday so he can have is own herd? If he’s at the age where he would be kicked out of a wild herd wouldn’t that be the safer thing to do before someone gets hurt, like Neepo or Swazi’s new calf. Also, I thought elephant herds were controlled by a matriarch. Why then would Musi rank higher than Umngani?
Ginny, this is only a guess but if memory serves me correctly, the hierachy of the herd is as follows (someone correct me if I’m wrong please)
Swazi is the matriarch in this herd even though not related to the other adult females
Then N’Dula,
Umgani is next in line, so it would stand to reason she could lose her position to Musi ,due to his being Dula’s son,
Emanti means water. He loved having the keepers squirt him with a hose and playing in the water, big puddles, little puddles, mud puddles.
The original ranking was Swazi, Moya, Samba, Umngani, Dula, Lungile.
This shows Umngani above Dula. Her status also includes: first baby girl (Khosi), first with two babies (when Ingadze was born), Neepo made her first with 3 in tow. The kids seem well-mannered and I don’t remember any issues with them being mean to any others. I do remember when Mackembay (prince to Queen Swazi) had seen Mackembay beating up on Neepo, he had hit him hard and rolled him all the way down the hill, that Umngani followed Mac up the hill and slapped him on the rear end (not knowing that Mom was just around the corner of the structure) and Umngani had to stand there and take a very long scolding and a little shoving from Swazi.
One can never tell when something interesting is happening while they are watching the elephant cam and the webcam operator is actually following the action as it unfolds before their eyes.
Thanks Don, I’m always getting Umngani and Dula’s ranks confused.
You’re right Mac used to use his position when he was younger to get away with a lot, it would seem he still tries concerning Neepo. It will be interesting to see how he handles not being the only child of Swazi once the new calf arrives, which should be anytime now seeing as Curits had given a window of delivery ending today. But then again babies have been known to be late.. oh the waiting is getting to us al I think lol
“The original ranking was Swazi, Moya, Samba, Umngani, Dula, Lungile.”
That doesn’t even include Mabhulane, as though the female and male adults have different ladders of rank.
IRL is it that Msholo and Vus’musi won’t be ranked above or below any of the female adults?
thank you. I had not seen the dominance tests between Musi and Umngani. it is interesting. sometimes in the past I have gotten nervous about whether Musi or Msholo might try to mate with Khosi before she is ready. I sort of remember reading that in the wild adult females would protect their too young female calves from getting mated prematurely.
Very interesting blog. In a bachelor herd, is there hierarchy? Probably age? I’m also curious about your comment “we’d like to see her not lose her rank to Musi”… why would you not like to see this? What happens?
Moose has been a pain in the butt practically since birth. His mom has two broken tusks from trying to keep him in line when he has misbehaved (broken on him). He could seem sweet as anything when playing with the original 3 births that followed (Khosi, Punga, Kami) and all of a sudden, when he hoped no adult was watching, he would give one of them a whack. Umngani would quite often catch him after he had hit Khosi and would move Khosi away from him by stepping in between. Occasionally she would give him a little shove to help move him out of the area. Dula quite often saw this and would corral him and give him a reminder to behave (which finally ended up with the two broken tusks. Moose had good moments, but the bad ones so outnumbered the good ones that it was hard to remember the good ones.
I have watched this herd ever since they arrived and have spent many hours watching and videotaping their activities while visiting the Park as well as watching them on the elephant cam at home.
10 births in 8 1/2 years and eagerly looking forward to the 11th birth which will happen when it happens. After 22 months of carrying the baby, I am sure she is wondering why the stork hasn’t gotten there yet.
Don, I haven’t been watching the elecam for nearly as long as you have so I find the information about Musi’s earlier years very interesting. Because no one has any information about his father in Africa, one might assume that poor Musi has inherited some less-than-desirable characteristics. Maybe we wouldn’t want to continue that gene pool. I had no idea about how Dula’s tusks got broken. That was some pretty severe discipline apparently. I wonder if he might be getting back at Umngani for the times she had to swat him for hurting little Khosi years ago. It sounds like Musi was pretty mean to the little ones back then. I hope that this is just a temporary stage that Musi is going through and that he’ll learn to behave better with some more coaching from Msholo. He does seem to enjoy his time with the big guy.
As Moose is nearing the age when he would have to leave home out in the wild, I am curious to know if the Park thinks when that time comes Swazi will let everyone know that it is time. I saw a television program on just such a thing. The young bull was carrying on and wouldn’t stop and the matriarch literally ran the 14 year old out of the herd and away he went. As Swazi is the boss……………
Erin: In the wild all the elephants in a herd are related , so it would be the matriarch whether she be the mother or his grandmother who would force the young bull who to leave the herd
In the case of the Park herd, I would think it could be Dula as his mother who says time to leave but with Swazi assuming the matriarch role it’s hard to say how it will play out for sure.
At least for now we have seen that DUla still comes to her big boy’s defense when needed.
So many interesting points all the around here. It would be wonderful if the Safari Park would designate a large area of land for the elephants, to be used as those involved with the elephants see appropriate. Musi has a gene pool different than the other males is so valuable that it would seem crazy to hand him off to another zoo. Msholo is an amazing and handsome bull and should be kept too. Hopefully he is not sterile. Seems both those guys need the company of one another. Is there somebody we can all contact to express interest in more area for elephants at the Safari Park?
Moderator’s note: Consider it done.
Thank you!
Just wondering if the Park has ever thought of changing the nicknames for the elephants as they get older. Emanti received the new nickname of Keeper’s Boy and as the elephants grow up different aspects of their personalities may emerge. I love watching Khosi because she is hilarious. She may always be the babysitter but at this age her new name should be Little Miss Bossy Tusks.
Moderator’s note: Cute!
Yep! I was thinking about Moose being a teenager myself! He’s acting like the usual human teenagers doing his usual bullying, pushing his boundaries, and aggrevating everyone in the herd, especially Umngani! I had to laugh when I read about the fact that when the other 4 boys get to eight years old and being in a bachelor herd, that will be a lot of fun for you all! Plus, that will also give you a new insight on male ellie behavior in a bachelor herd that we still don’t totally understand with their wild male ellie cousins in Africa. Another new research study project coming up in six years or less! Have fun!!
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
Lately, in the mornings when the cam first starts moving, there seems to be a quick scan of the area, swiftly past the playing elephants and focus on deer. Is there an automatic cam that is stopping on deer rather than elephants?
OHHHHHH, there they are! And, great close ups cam operator! Thank you so much for all you do, greatly appreciated as always.
It’s nice to see Umngani happy to get down with all the little ones and roll around in the mud.
What absolute fun it was to watch the mud party this morning! Oh how I wish I could join in!! They looked like they were having so much fun!
As always, thank you so much Curtis for your highly informative updates. Your clarification of the interactions between Umngani and Musi indicate that my layman’s interpretation has been a bit off regarding overall implications of their recent behavior toward one another. I had thought it to be basically a situation involving unwanted ‘sexual attention’ (harrassment). In the mixed herd situation at SAP I hadn’t recognized the underlying aspect relating to Musi’s usurping of Umngani’s herd status. Also I am pleased that you are thinking to eventually set up your own bachelor herd. Although, the mind boggles at the sheer thought of when devilish Neepo eventually reaches that age !
Steve, you said it all so perfectly!! I completely thought the same as you. That is why we need these experts and are so grateful that they take the time to educate us and help us understand what we see.
I totally agree with both Steve and Pat. I too thought that it was sexual, with no idea about the herd dominance factors. The comment about little Neepo is so true that I laughed outloud. He sure is a cute little “devil” though.
I introduced the video to my new 2nd graders yesterday and boy was it a treat! They loved watching the mud bath!
got a kick watching Musi walk by with a tree in his mouth. he crossed in front of Ndula and Swazi. my interpretation was Musi saying “Look at me. I’m a man. I can eat a tree.”
That was a funny thing with him this morning. He thought he was a big guy until Swazi wound up chasing him around the hut with the tree in his mouth. Finally he realized he better give it up or be bigger trouble with the queen. She finished the episode enjoying the tree with her little man Mac.
Hahahaha, I was there and saw all that this morning. When we arrived Swazi was really enjoying that branch. Twenty minutes later she moved on to eating hay in another section of the yard and Musi decided he would take that branch and parade about with it. Didn’t take too long for Swazi to give him the eye and he took it back to where he had found it and she returned to claim it back. They are all so very fascinating and amazing, and humorous at times! And yes, Dula seems to know where Musi is at all times and watches out for him from enough distance unless she sees he may have have gotten himself in too deep. Pretty amazing!
thanks Michelle and Pat for your updates. I did not watch the whole Musi, Swazi, and tree episode but it was funny to read your descriptions. after Swazi’s baby is born, I hope to get down to SDSP myself.
Ha!
enjoyed a you tube video last night from reid park zoo. it was wonderful seeing the whole family of mabu’s in their new surroundings. A now i know what Curtis looks like too
tyvm for the cams!
Is the baby is repositioning? Looks a little lower to me. Maybe wishful thinking.
Will there be a cam so we may watch the birth? What a lovely thing that would be.
Moderator’s note: It all depends on the circumstances.
A little refresher course. There are 3 moms. Umngani can be spotted because of her very long tusks. Swazi has two even length tusks and a very large edema. Sometimes I get fooled, because that is exactly what Msholo has, without the edema (it doesn’t take too much to figure out what he has, instead). Dula has a straight left tusk and a bent right tusk plus an edema. It usually takes a little longer to figure out which one is which when they are facing AWAY from the camera and when they are facing TOWARDS the camera, you have to see more than the two tusks because Swazi and Msholo both seem to have identical length tusks.
Don I also use their tails to figure out who is who.. Swazi’s tail is long with a a center split, Dula’s is long but appears somewhat horned shaped if that makes sense to anyone. Msholo’s tail is long but the split is over to the right side. Mind you this only works well if they aren’t swishing them a lot lol
Thank you Don! I have been embarrassed to say I get Swazi and Msholo mixed up if they are not sideways or standing together!! I have noticed that Msholo has slightly splayed tusks and a very broad area between them. Sill, it feels good to know that I am not the only one who can’t tell a male from a female at times. : ). Soon there will be a baby by Swazi’s side and we won’t be straining our eyes as much to tell them apart!
Idea! It would be great to have front and side mug shots of each elephant, really well lighted close ups! And current!
It is beautiful to wake this morning and see Umgani and Msholo and the kids all together as a peaceful caring unit. Umgani looks relaxed and is able to nurse Neepo, and the other calves are calm. Sunday Musi was making everyone miserable and it was unsettling to see that Neepo could not ever have his morning nursing because Umgani had to deal with the teenager. Thank you for today, and for Musi being in the far yard.
9:05 PST Musi having small skirmishes with Msholo again, Dula came to his rescue twice.. Hard to see what it started it as cam wasn’t following them consistently.. Perhaps Musi exercising his teenage muscle against a bigger force then himself to no avail lol
Just watching Msholo follow a keeper hoping to get some of the pellets. They all scamper pretty quick to get some of the pellets. The pellets may have vitamins and minerals but are they infused with a flavour that gets all the elephants going? Maybe something like a peanut butter flavour.
Moderator’s note: No, just the natural flavor of grasses.
It would be wonderful if a moderator could post photos of each elephant and note the different ways we could tell them apart. I enjoy watching all of them – but never know which one is which! They are so amusing that I really don’t need to know their names but it would be fun to be able to understand who is being written about. Don’s comments above will help – thanks!
Kathy, the write ups on the cam page does note about them as well as the photos of the adutls appear to be current if that helps you any besides comments made regarding their appearances
Moosie needs a time out to reflect on his bad behaviour at times,
either by himself in the smaller area or inside. But he is still my favorite,
the BABY is here!!!!!
Is it a boy or girl?? Hooray either way!!
Take a quick look! That’s a brand new baby in with Swazi in the front yard!
Just checked the cam and see a little elle trying to nurse, but having trouble reaching high enough.
DO I SEE BABY???
Please just leave the camera on the new baby!!! Nothing is more interesting!
I am all for that Pat
Yeah we have baby how cute is that.
this baby looks bigger then Neepo did at birth.
Mabu is now the proud papa of 3 baby girls! Has he been told yet?
Moderator’s note: He’s probably watching Elephant Cam just like the rest of us.
The wait is finally over, thank goodness! congrats to Maby, Swazi, big brother Mac (boy is he in for learning lesson, no more nursing and a sister to contend with) as well as to the keepers and our moderator. She looks smaller than Mac did at birth, it will be interesting to see what she weighs in at. Though I do agree she seems to have to really reach to nurse. bend down momma please lol
Now the fun begins!
Macembay weighed 268 pounds at birth (the heaviest of any of the babies). Have they weighed the new baby girl?
Moderator’s note: She’s 205 pounds.
Oh, I haven’t seen her yet, but I can’t wait to get a glance. Woo-hoo! A little girl at last!!!!
OK, just got a quick look at her…. ahhhh, so sweet.
Soooo cute! Boy or girl???
Moderator’s note: Think pink!
A girl!! That is the best news ever! We’re they able to video the birth?
congratulations to all,I thought I saw something little this morning but it walked out of sight and i wasn’t sure. how great to see a little one again,baby ellies are so darn cute.
Congratulations to you ALL!!! She is Beautiful!! Swazi is so tall is the new little girl able to reach to nurse? I know you are keeping a watchful eye on her so am not really worried, but curious. Hope her brother treats her well and is protective of her like a big brother should be! It is so wonderful that we have another little girl!! Congratulations to Mabu!!! With him as a daddy I am sure she will grow into a fine elephant!! Bless You ALL, Drifty
Congrats on the new Baby (8-28-12) She’s a cutie. What do you guys do when the poor little baby can’t reach Momma’s tit to nurse? Swazi being so tall.
I think I just saw Khosi comforting Mac through the fence. Umngani standing there quite close. Nurture is in the nature of the beast I guess.
YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So happy for the zoo and Swazi and very happy that it’s a girl! It’s been a long time and I know that for the zoo, especially, it is easier to manage a herd of females. She is so adorable, but I, too, noticed that she seems to have trouble reaching mommie’s nipples.
how long do you keep Swazi and the baby away from the rest of the herd. It seems like the other ellies are alittle curious
Elephant Team: Swazi and her calf will continue to bond in a separate yard from the rest of the herd while the newborn gets steady on her feet, learns to follow her mother closely, and is nursing.
Happy Birthday little one and Congrats to all ! Hopefully Swazi and baby girl will soon figure out how to utilize the pile of soil in the rear enclosure as a stepping stone for the calf to reach up to mom’s food dispensers.
I noticed Mac at one point trying to reach through the back gate to Swazi to attempt to try to nurse from her.. didn’t work no matter how many times he tried.
I saw that too. Poor little Mac should have been weaned a few weeks ago. When Umngani was a couple of weeks from giving birth, she gently weaned Ingadze so that he was okay with the baby (Neepo) and helpful to his mother.
I couldn’t figure which calf was in the yard with Mac earlier this morning. They were both so excited and running around. I thought it might be Kami.
It is hot today, does Mac have a play pool or some mud? Will he be able to go play with his buddies today? Hard to be the sibling when a new baby arrives, in all homes.
Moderator’s note: I believe he is with his buddies now. Yes, it will certainly be an adjustment for him!
Hey moderator! We are keeping you quite busy with all our comments and questions. We appreciate you so much!! Thank you for keeping us so informed!
Moderator’s note: You are very welcome!
Hmmm, will she have seniority over the other calves eventually?
Princess Swazini? ; )
Have mum and baby gone back inside, the cam seems to be concentrating on the rest of the herd?
Is the baby not tall enough to nurse? She seemed to be having trouble when I was watching earlier. I’ve never noticed this with other babies. What do the keepers do to remedy this?
Elephant Team responds: Mom is positioning herself as a good mom would to allow her calf to nurse. And she is nursing!
Thanks for the reply. Happy to hear she’s nursing.
Just knew it……didn’t get on to check until 1pm zoo time so I’ve yet to see the newest addition to the herd. Can’t wait!
Congratulations to all!
congrats on Swazi’s new baby. I was surprised this morning to see a little body next to Swazi.
hate to say this but I was a little relieved to see Musi, Ndula, and Luti moved to the back yard. I had never seen his recent interactions with Umngani but I felt nervous. I guess if Musi keeps following Umngani even after she backs off, I don’t see what she can do and feel unsure what else Musi can do.
Has Vus’musi joined in the welcome-new-baby trumpeting this time?
thanks for the reassurance on the nursing. human mother worrying about baby elephant getting her milk. we can always call dame sheldrick in africa for her elephant milk recipe . so happy with our new baby girl!!
Swazi and baby girl are in the small part of the yard and Umngani and kids are in the large part of the yard. Baby girl is really nursing!
cam operator, thanks for going back to Swazi and her little girl. she is just precious. although all babies are cute (human and animals), elephant babies are just near and dear to my heart. I guess when the elephant is very young, it might hold a crooked tail b/c it’s still getting the idea of how to walk and so moves a little stiffly.
Did by chance the birth get video taped as Curtis had hoped?
Not exactly. Swazi turned into a blind corner just as the baby was delivered.
Hi! CONGRATS TO SWAZI ON BABY ELLIE CALF #2!!!!
I got the news from a person’s comment today on the panda comment page about Swazi having her baby today! Then, I got on the ellie page and found out that she had her baby at around 3:40am PDT this morning—AT NITE!! Another nite birth so that the keepers couldn’t get a video of Swazi delivering her baby! These momma ellies love to fool everybody with their nite births, do they? Anyway, I just saw Swazi and her calf in the holding yard a couple of minutes ago. Her baby was laying down resting after a long day of learning how to stand, walk, and getting a good, full chunk of mom’s milk into her stomach. Swazi was right by her making sure that she’s doing good. Congrats to all of the ellie keepers on another baby ellie, and a long distance congrats to Mabu on being the daddy of kid #10! When do the keepers think that they will be able to have Swazi and baby girl back out with the rest of the herd and her son, Mac? Let us know, ok? When we do see them with the herd on the elliecam, we will all know who the newest baby ellie is because she will be the smallest one out there! Now, it’s time to think of a girl’s name for this little cutie! I think this is the first girl ellie calf after the other moms, including Swazi, had about 4 boys over the last couple of years. That’s good for the herd!
Well, gonna go and check on Swazi again and check on Bai on the pandacam. Now, there are 2 babies to watch for the next several months on the SDZ cams!
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
PS: Don’t forget to get a good pic of Swazi’s little girl and have her on the Meet the Elephant list!
PSS: Now, it’s Msholo’s turn to be a daddy! I wonder which of the moms he will choose to mate with?
Just saw a tweet regarding the new calf, it said she weighed 205lbs. Theres also a video on youtube.
Moderator’s note: Here’s a link to the video…
So excited! Got a great look at our new little girl! Thanks Don! Glad to hear she is nursing. I was worried too, seems she has such a far reach!
Thanks for sharing wonderful Elephant Vus’Musi. It is just awesome.