Baby Elephant
Posted at 3:58 pm March 20, 2009 by Rick Schwartz
Big sister, little brother, and Mom
That’s right, our male baby African elephant was born on March 13 at 3:15 in the morning. He is doing very well, and yes, he’s terribly cute. You can see him with mom Umngani and older sister Khosi.
While visiting, I was able to talk to some of the staff to find out how the little guy is doing. I found out that there is more going on than meets the eye. Sure, when we go to the Wild Animal Park to visit them, we see a very cute baby, a proud older sister, and a very gentle mother. You may even notice a small shelter for humans set up over a table with clipboard, watches, and paperwork. Amazingly enough, for a couple of weeks prior to the birth, the dedicated staff had been watching over the expectant mother 24 hours a day. Now, after the birth, 24-hour watches will continue for at least another 5 weeks!
The observations conducted by the animal care staff collect information on frequency of nursing, interaction with others, developmental behavior, and so much more. Also pertinent to their documentation is what they call “significant first occurrences.” These include the first time he tried to stand, the first time he actually did stand, the first time he tried to nurse, the first time he actually did nurse, and so on. It becomes an astoundingly massive pool of information that is added to similar documentation collected from previous births. All of those facts and figures are then compared with data that have been collected on baby elephants born in Africa to gauge the growth trajectories and health of the youngsters.
Whew! And to think you thought he was just a cute baby!
Now that you know about some of the “behind the scenes” work of our devoted staff of keepers and researchers, here are some fun facts about our new baby boy:
*He was born March 13, at 3:15 a.m. By the way, did you know that March 13 happens to be National Elephant Day in Thailand? It is! AND another fun fact, on March 13 of 1897, San Diego State University was founded!
*His birth weight was103 kilograms (about 226 pounds).
*He nurses regularly, and if you add up the total time of nursing that occurs in 24 hours it would be 2 hours!
*He continues to do very well, and he and the whole herd can already be seen out on exhibit in the main yard, so come by the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park and bring your camera!
Rick Schwartz is the San Diego Zoo’s Elephant Odyssey Ambassador.
Read Rick’s previous blog, Elephants: A Zoo Family.
View more photos of the baby elephant
Watch video of the baby’s first day
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March 20th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
Thanks for all the information! Your enthusiam and excitement about the elephants (hmmmm….all start with an “E”!!!) is highly palpable in your report. Seeing brother and sister and mom together is very cool, too! I look forward to watching him grow and hearing about his accomplishments…all in the name of conservation!
March 20th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Thank you so much Rick for all your hard, but fun work you do. I was so pleased with all your info on the baby elephant. It was so so great to be alble to see that first video. I was always wondering why there had been a couple of elephants left in the circle pen way in the back there and now I know, she was pregnant and they were keeping watch on her. I think I was the only one to notice it and mention it a while back. I was watching one day and night pretty much and saw the same elephants kept there all n!ght long and worried sick about it, but I thought there might be a reason, and thanks to you I am releived. Thanks again.
March 20th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
Thanks for the awesome blog Rick!
Like I said on the previous blog, the San Diego Zoo and WIld Animal Park have the most dedicated, and amazing elephant staff. I commend you and all the elephant keepers!
March 21st, 2009 at 12:31 pm
He is an absolute cutie. When will you be choosing a name for him? Will there be a vote? Umngani must be a very proud Mum.
March 21st, 2009 at 3:07 pm
congrats! I am happy to hear his healthy! wow over 200lbs! what a big boy…I hope to hear more about him…
March 21st, 2009 at 3:17 pm
I watched the video today. He is such a cutie! You can already see his personality shining (apparently just after feeding). He is still quite wobbly, so when he wants to jump and play, he nearly falls down. I think I’m in love with an elephant! (A wonderfully CUTE little guy.)
March 21st, 2009 at 4:50 pm
Question, can full grown males live peacefully together?? Either in “bachelor herds” or in male: female herds?? Thnx
March 21st, 2009 at 6:25 pm
Thanks for the update Rick. You do have a dream job.
I especially love the photos of proud big sister Khosi and mom Umgami with the new little guy. Khosi has had lots of experience with Punga and Kamile that she can now apply to her own brother. She will be very protective of him and learn how to be a great elephant mom from her own mother. It is amazing to see her at 3 years old with such a small little guy.
March 22nd, 2009 at 10:20 am
He is adorable! I hope to be able to visit the zoo and WAP this summer and see all these wonderful animals I’ve been reading about in the blogs!
March 22nd, 2009 at 9:35 pm
Hi Rick – What an exciting and exhilarating feeling it was to see Umngani’s baby just two days after he was born. We visited the Wild Animal Park on March 15th, it was unbelievable to watch this newborn calf romp and interact with his mom and older sister, Khosi. The calf kept up with his mom all of the time. The love between the three elephants was very moving. It was so sweet to watch the little calf walk over to Khosi, and extend his tiny trunk and touch her as if to say “hello”. He would always run to keep up with his mom, Umngani. While watching this amazing and beautiful family, I couldn’t help but marvel at their love and interaction.
The calf is nine days old today and noticeably stronger. While watching the Elephant Cam this morning, I could see the “little guy” running around the enclosure following behind his his mom and Koshi. Later, I also saw two young elephants playing in a mud hole. If I’m not mistaken, it was Impunga and Kamile. They were in the mud hole “wrestling”, using their trunks. An adult elephant walked over to the playing juveniles and chased one of them away. But not for long – the two youngsters were back enjoying the mud hole again.
Now we are looking forward to the naming of this precocious little calf. Rick, do you have any idea when the naming will take place?
Thanks again Rick for all your endeavors, and of course many thanks to the dedicated and hard working personnel at the Elephant Overlook who are so devoted to these intelligent and loving creatures.
March 22nd, 2009 at 9:57 pm
Hey Rick, Good to see your pictures and words about the new baby elephant. You folks are doing such commendable work keeping tabs on such a rare and endangered species. Who knows how much longer we’ll be able to enjoy seeing them in the wild. Well, keep up the good work and stay focused and diligent, for it is such a worthy endeavor and my hat goes off to you for your tenacity and steadfastness to get the job done under all kinds of circumstances. Koodos dude. Thank you
March 23rd, 2009 at 2:09 pm
“Question, can full grown males live peacefully together?? Either in “bachelor herds” or in male: female herds?? Thnx”
That reminds me, what’s fatherhood like for elephants? How does Mabhulane get along with all his babies?
March 23rd, 2009 at 2:37 pm
When will the website be launching the Elephant Odyssey page? I am so excited about the new exhibit that I marked the date it opens on my calendar!!
March 24th, 2009 at 10:02 am
LOL, this entry reminded me of an elephant post on the “Animals Who Need Big Kisses”, blog – I can’t link to it here but Google it!
March 24th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Humans aren’t the only species that likes to see new babies in the zoo. Once at Franklin Park Zoo in Boston I saw the gorilla Kiki come right up to the glass to get a better look at the baby in a human family.
Does anyone in the Asian elephant herd at WAP watch this little guy?
March 24th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
Is Ndula pregnant? and for elephant odyessy will you get any more cows to breed with Ranchipur? or will you get any more bulls to breed? andwill you breed Devi? thanks max
March 25th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
Everyone: Thank you all for your congratulations, compliments and encouraging words! And in turn for all of you who said “thank you” for the information and pictures – You’re welcome!
Sorry to make this so general but I have been very busy with presentations all over town. That said, I’ll try to collectively answer some of the questions you asked throughout the comments. I think someone asked about breeding at Elephant Odyssey. At this time we are not planning on having any breeding occur within the herd there at Elephant Odyssey. As for naming the baby, I believe that is being worked on, and when I know more about it I will definitely share it here on the blog. As for the Elephant Odyssey web page, it is set to launch the first of April, so stay tuned for that because I just got a preview today and it is going to be very fun and exciting!
My Best,
-Rick
March 26th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
Hi,
In regards to the herd at the Wild Animal Park, does our park still keep in touch with their African park where they were taken from? What a happy herd they are, and with all the babies…. Also, how is an elephant named or what is the criteria for a name? Thx!
April 11th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
moderator,
would it be possible to get some updates on the new calf?
thanks
Moderator’s note: We’ll try.
May 23rd, 2009 at 1:01 am
My family and I were at the wild animal park shortly after the baby elephant was born, three days in fact. I’m surprised that the little elephant doesn’t have a name yet. When we were there my daughter suggested to one of the keepers the name ” Lucky ” or ” Bahati ” in Swahili. Given that the baby was born on Friday the 13th.
We love to see the progress when we are at the park and the wonderful work you and your staff do. Thank you for ensuring that people now and generations to come don’t lose the oppotunity to behold such amazing creatures.