Baby Asian Elephant Born at England Zoo
3 Oct 2014
A zoo in England added a personal touch to Monday’s Elephant Appreciation Day with the birth of a male Asian elephant on Sept. 16. The elephant was born at the ZSL Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire and is doing well.
The infant elephant is the fourth born to the zoo’s female elephant Azizah and the ninth elephant to have been born at the zoo. The birth took place among the herd of 10 elephants that live at the zoo, without any assistance from zoo’s vets and keepers, who were standing by if they were needed.
“It was so fantastic that the birth happened naturally, and with the herd’s help, rather than ours,” Lee Sambrook, the zoo’s assistant curator of elephants, said in a release. Sambrook said it was “an incredible privilege” to view the birth, and that the young elephant is getting along well in his herd.
Asian elephants are slightly smaller than African elephants, but can still reach nearly 10 feet in height and top out at 11,000 pounds. Adults can eat up to 300 pounds of food per day, roaming in herds and alone to find sustenance. The species is classified as endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, as the elephants face threats from habitat loss and conflicts with an expanding human population.
