Qinisa on her first day of life.
Our newest African elephant calf, Qinisa, continues to grow at a normal rate. Her weight is now 330 pounds (150 kilograms). She has been playing a lot with half brother Inhlonipho (Neepo), who now weighs over 1,000 pounds (450 kilograms). Neepo keeps his kid gloves on when teaching Qinisa the art of wrestling. This seems to be the pattern between the smallest and the next-smallest members of our herd here at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. With half-sister Kami and big-sister Khosi always close enough to officiate the horseplay, perhaps Neepo doesn’t have much of a choice, so he doesn’t go all out like he does with his big brother Ingadze. Never a dull moment with our elephant herd!
Curtis Lehman is an animal care manager at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Read his previous post, Welcome, Little Girl.
Any pregnancies that can be announced, here or with the girls in Reid Park?
Moderator’s note: No.
Thanks for the update, Curtis! I’ve enjoyed watching the two of them play together and it’s one of my favorite activities to see.
Qinisa is such a joy to watch – such a tiny, perfectly formed ellie! I look forward to seeing her mingling with her friends when we make our visit to Safari Park later this month!
Love the new baby! I enjoy watching the interactions of all the elephants and caught them Friday evening having a great time in the pond–even though it was drained. Love them all.
Thank you for the update. I only found the webcam just before Neepo was born, so Qinisa is just the second elephant baby for me. I don’t know what your notes say about all the previous elephant births, but she must rank up there as one of the most social butterflies at the Park.
thanks for the post. nice to see new ellie news.
I like watching Qinisa (queenisa) running alongside Swazi’s big steps.
seconding Nancy’s comment, I had a great time watching the little boy gang playing in the large pool Fri. afternoon. Neepo had a field day climbing a number of calves lying down on the dry floor. I could see Jackpot signs going off in his head as he ran up to his next target.
Qinisa can leverage her weight against Neepo’s ear by doing a hop-push (hopping off her forelegs into Neepo’s side). where did she learn that? Neepo would do that too.
Where is the water for the elephants?
Moderator’s note: There are drinkers located throughout the elephant yards.
Adorable Princess Quinisa, a joy to watch. What happened for Neepo’s first birthday last month. I didn’t see any blogs or videos?
When transferring to far yard this morn. Swazi headed for the gate and Sassy (short for Sassafrass which is what I call her) took off after Mom and left a rooster tail of dust until her legs couldn’t keep up with her and down she went… too funny
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Curtis: Thanks for the brief update on little Nisa. She certainly is a spunky little thing and has such a great time playing with Nipho much to the delight of all us ellie watchers! I am constantly impressed with the great care you and your staff give the elephants. I know it is a LOT of work, but it must bring you great satisfaction as well. My best to all you hard-working people at Safari Park…
The young elephants are fun to watch. I’ve been practicing her name and I’m getting the hang of it. LOL
Swazi seems slightly agitated this morning. She is swinging her trunk and running about. The little ones ran from her, except Qinisa tried to be with her and withstand that swinging and shifting about. Wondering, is she upset that the keepers are not there yet due to the change to standard time? Umgani and clan were waiiting by the gates in the far yard and a deer was on the other side as though expecting it to open. Is it time change, or something else?
watching Queenie this morning. she sure likes to roll around in the hay (no pun intended, she is too young!)
I enjoy how the ellies of all ages can be quite playful.
Qinisa still looks so tiny. Glad she’s growing normally. She sure does love her ‘roll in the hay.’ So lucky we can watch her grow!
11/5/2012
I just wanted to know why the elephants, eat each others poop, is this a
instinct behavior, or other behavior?? Also I noticed your male mating with
one female late end o October, will she now produce a calf, and now the
male is seperated alone, is this because the zoo does not want any more
babies??? Just curious is all!!!
Thank You !! CJ
Moderator’s note: Many leaf-eating animals, including elephants, eat feces to acquire the bacteria for their guts to digest the leaves. It sounds gross, but…
One or more elephants may be separated from the herd for a variety of reason: training, husbandry care, medical care, etc.
can’t remember if this was stated in the past, but it’s been mentioned Qinisa was able to pick up items very early. does this mean she has also been mouthing the hay? is she able to ingest the hay too by just swallowing, if her teeth have not grown in?
Calves at this young age are dependent on mother’s milk for nourishment. Little bits of hay may be consumed but not any significant amounts.
Moderator: Thank you so much for explaining why the elephants eat feces. The first time I saw this was with Sundzu when he was just a little guy (miss him and Samba, by the way, but it’s nice to see them over in Tucson.). I was so surprised and grossed out by this behavior, but I figured there was an explanation — and now I have it! Thanks again…
Moderator’s note: You’re very welcome, Deborah.
I just saw Mabu on Reid park’s camera: he is magnificent. He makes mshoo look like moose.
While at my annual doctors appointment this morning, I read a fascinating cover story in Ranger Rick Magazine about Little Orphan Elephants in Nairobi. Lots of precious pictures of the babies and what they do to help them survive until they are old enough to join an adult herd. A little googling and you should be able to pull up the article with pics. Adorable.
If you go to www (dot) sheldrickwildlifetrust.org you can find out even more about these orphaned baby elephants; lots more pictures too.
Most of you would greatly enjoy reading Dame Daphne Sheldrick’s new book, ‘Love, Life and Elephants: An African Love Story’. It’s a wonderful account of her life and how she and her late husband, David, came to the aid of the elephants and many other species needing help and protection. It is a great read, but it also reminds us that African wildlife are still being poached and need our support (rhino’s are currently under siege with more than 550 being killed this year alone in S. Africa) to make sure they don’t become extinct in our lifetimes.
After I was in the main magazine website, I typed in ‘orphan elephant’ and the article came right up. Very interesting material, both hopeful for the elephants being saved and disturbing that they need to be saved in the first place. My favorite part was the loving interaction between the orphans and keepers who even slept with the babies.
Elephant Team: I know these are wild animals, but sometimes I see pictures of elephants with an ankle chain, and of course you have barriers to separate yourselves from the herd. In general, are the elephants careful and gentle with you, or is something you could not test?
Despite having a good relationship with the elephant herd, we use protected contact to work with these animals to keep them and us safe and to set boundaries.
Poor Khosi she has the tire stuck around her back foot.
it is nice to see Queenie spoiled by Khosi and Kami. Qinisa tried to nurse from Khosi, who looked like she was walking away to make sure Qinisa would follow and continue trying to nurse. not sure about the purpose of the walking away behavior. then it looked like Qinisa was trying to mouth Kami’s ear but was a couple inches short. 2 attentive, young aunties.
On my behind the scenes tour this year, we were told that when the adults arrived at the park, it only took them 2 weeks to learn their names. Just wondering if little Qinisa knows here name yet, or if the two week time frame comes when they are a wee bit older.
Am planning a trip to Safari Park with my granddaughter on Monday. Since this will be her first visit she is beside herself with excitement. She and I are can’t wait to see Qinisa and all the elephants!
Diane C.
Moderator’s note: have you been practicing how to say her Qinisa’s name?
thanks for adding updates to the elephants’ profiles. I went to check some info on Qinisa and saw that one line had been added or edited for many of the elephants to reflect their current behavior or status.
Is Ingadze going through a growth spurt right now? I swear he just seems so much bigger and now I can really pick him out of the crowd with his tusks. They didn’t seem to be there that much and then poof they seem to be so recognizable.
He also seems to be quite the Mama’s boy and spends a lot of time near Gani, at least when I happen to be viewing the cam he is at her side more often than Neepo!
What a wonderful job you have, Curtis. All these little calves to watch. I love to watch all the interaction between the herd. The family units are just amazing.
she is cute baby
Hi,
I have been watching the elephant cam and it is so great to see them. They are so loving to each other. I love to watch them play. The baby is getting so big and I was watching today and she was out there wrestling too. I was so hilarious. She was jumping up on him.
I just wanted to say thank you for letting us watch these awesome creatures.
Kim Kapple
Elephant and panda lover!!!