Originally published March 15, 2010 at 11:58 a.m., updated March 15, 2010 at 11:58 a.m.
Ellie, the Asian elephant.
The St. Louis Zoo released this photograph of an Asian elephant baby born on August 2, 2006 in St. Louis. Ellie, the Zoo's 34-year-old Asian elephant, gave birth to this 341-pound baby girl. This is Ellie's second baby and the first for the baby's father, Raja.
The St. Louis Zoo currently has two pregnant elephants. Ellie and Rani are both expecting in summer 2011.
Zoo officials said Monday that Ellie, 38, one of its' Asian elephants, is now pregnant. This will be her third birth. Ellie's daughter, Maliha, will turn four on Aug. 2. Ellie's 14-year-old daughter Rani is also pregnant.
The Zoo’s bull elephant, Raja, 17, is the father of both expected babies. He was the first Asian elephant ever born at the zoo in 1992, and this calf will be his fourth offspring. An elephant pregnancy lasts about 22 months. Ellie will be due to deliver in late summer 2011. Rani will deliver in mid-summer 2011.
“We are looking forward to this pregnancy,” says Curator of Mammals Martha Fischer. “Ellie has proven to be such a good mother, and we are optimistic that everything will go well. We have already begun to prepare for both deliveries,” adds Fischer. “We are developing exercise plans with stretches and exercises specifically designed to get these elephants ready for the rigorous delivery,” Fischer said.
A newborn elephant weighs about 250-350 pounds. “Both elephants are receiving regular prenatal and ultrasound exams by the veterinary team. Soon we should be able to determine the gender of both babies with blood tests.”
Ellie lives with Maliha, Rani, Jade and the rest of the elephant herd at the Zoo’s River’s Edge habitat. She and Rani arrived at the Saint Louis Zoo in 2001 from the Jacksonville Zoo, where Rani was born in 1996.
Both elephant breedings were recommended by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Elephant Species Survival Plan, a national cooperative breeding and management program.
There are fewer than 35,000 Asian elephants left in the wild, and they are facing extinction. Given the shrinking population of Asian elephants, Saint Louis Zoo officials said they are committed to conserving this species. Zoo officials also said they support the welfare and conservation of Asian elephants in Sumatra, Sri Lanka and other countries in Asia through the International Elephant Foundation, as well as the conservation of African elephants in Kenya.
Comments
larryjordan (anonymous) says...
raja got 2 babies on the way he should be paying child support I have to pay it but raja dont
March 15, 2010 at 12:37 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Mike_Booth (anonymous) says...
Conservation/Exploitation....tomato/tomatoe....
March 15, 2010 at 5:33 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
despicable (anonymous) says...
St. Louis Zoo is a pathetic and cruel zoo for elephants. It has only 1.2 acres of space for 8 elephants which is nothing. Remember that elephants are migratory animals that travel for hours and hours in the wild. With little space to explore, they are unable to stay physically healthy. Veterinary records show that those elephants suffer from several health problems such as arthiritis and chronic foot abscesses, and infections.
Furthermore, due to the harsh winters, St. Louis Zoo’s elephants are forced to stay indoors for a few months every year in small cells that only meet the minimum AZA requirement. Elephants are extremely intelligent animals and to keep them locked up like prisoners for months is extremely cruel as they suffer from immense boredom. All those elephants must be going crazy.
The whole thing about breeding for conservation is a load of crap too. Very few breeding attempts have been successful; one of the elephants at St. Louis Zoo which was bred, Rani, rejected her calf when it was born. This is because elephants in zoos do not have the proper family and social structures to help then learn how to be good mothers and so they reject their calves. This doesn’t happen in the wild. In 2009, a two year old calf at the zoo was found to have the herpes virus, a deadly disease.
These two calves that the zoo is expecting may well not survive and even if they do, they will be very unlucky. They will be living in horrid conditions with no freedom over their lives, no enjoyment of their surroundings, locked up in cages.
I feel so bad for those innocent creatures.
March 16, 2010 at 8:06 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )