Baby girl elephant born to Ringling Bros.

VIENNA , Va., Nov. 18 (UPI) -- The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation Tuesday announced the birth of a healthy female Asian elephant.

This marks the 21st birth in what Ringling Bros. describes as "the most successful Asian elephant breeding program in the Western Hemisphere."

Baby Sundara, which means "beautiful" in Hindi, was born Nov. 9 and weighed in at 310 pounds. She is the offspring of 39-year-old Sally and 35-year-old Charlie.

Sally has given birth before as part of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey breeding program. Sundara has four other siblings, two of which were born at the Ringling Bros. Center for Elephant Conservation. Kelly Ann, 12, and Rudy, 6, are both touring with "The Greatest Show on Earth" circus.

"There are fewer than 35,000 Asian elephants remaining in the world and these magnificent animals are struggling to survive so each elephant born at Ringling Bros. is a celebratory step toward the preservation of the species," Kenneth Feld, founder of Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation, said in a statement. "Since 1992, 21 elephants have been born into Ringling Bros. care and that is a lifetime commitment that we take very seriously."

Name The Elephant!

Oregon Zoo Offers 5 Names, You Vote Online
By Brooks Burford
Friday, September 5, 2008
The Oregon Zoo's baby elephant needs a name. Oregon Zoo elephant keepers are asking the public to help them choose a name for the 2-week-old elephant calf. Keepers have come up with five names and are asking people to vote for their favorite on the zoo's Web site: www.oregonzoo.org.
"The community's outpouring of love and support for the zoo and our newest resident has been very gratifying," said Mike Keele, the zoo's deputy director. "We've had to take things very slowly to ensure that Rose-Tu and her calf are completely bonded and comfortable with the rest of the herd. Now we are ready to move onto the next step, and that is giving the calf a name that suits his personality."


Keepers are considering the following five names:

1. Amul: Hindi for "priceless, of inestimable worth."

2. Bao: Chinese for "precious treasure."

3. Duc (rhymes with hook or look): Vietnamese for "good, moral, desire."

(Also is a portion of former Trail Blazer Kevin Duckworth's name, honoring the late basketball player.)
4. Hugo-Tu: This name honors the baby's mother, Rose-Tu, and maternal grandfather, Hugo. Hugo comes from the Germanic word for "mind, heart or spirit" and Tu is Vietnamese for "tree."

5. Samudra (nickname Sam): Hindi for "lord of the ocean." (The calf loves his baths!)


Votes will be accepted through Thursday, Sept. 11, at 5 p.m. The zoo will announce the winning name on Friday, Sept. 12.


The Asian elephant calf, born Aug. 23 at 3:56 p.m. at the zoo, had a rough start to life when Rose-Tu became confused after giving birth and nearly trampled him. Elephant keepers quickly intervened and were able to prevent the new mother from causing any harm to her baby. Keele believes Rose-Tu became confused because she had never seen a birth before. Until the new baby's arrival, she herself had been the last elephant born at the zoo.


Rose-Tu, born Aug. 31, 1994, is a popular elephant within the herd and with her keepers. She is always looking to tease her herd mates and shares a strong friendship with Chendra, who is nearly the same age. Rose-Tu is the second smallest elephant in the herd, weighing about 7,600 pounds. She conceived in late 2006.


The Oregon Zoo has a renowned breeding program for endangered Asian elephants. More than 25 elephants have been born at the zoo, beginning with Packy in 1962. The new calf is the first third-generation elephant to be born in the United States.


As the infant grows older, father Tusko -- a 13,500-pound, 36-year-old Asian elephant -- will be introduced and allowed to interact with him, as well.


Tusko arrived at the zoo in June 2005 on a breeding loan. He has successfully sired three calves in the past -- two while living in Canada and one in California.

Netherlands2008-09-04 - Emmen, Netherlands

A male calf has been born this morning at 11.30 AM in Emmen Zoo. His mother is Mingalar Oo and his father is Radza (father to seven babies, grandfather of 2 babies in Japan). Its the first time in the zoos history that a birth took place in the outside enclosure.

....Bonding....

Elephant Birth at the Portland Zoo....

Asian Elephant ultrasound

....Rose-Tu Portland Zoo....

Oregon Zoo anxiously awaits a baby elephant that could supercharge attendance

Sunday, August 17, 2008 KATY MULDOONThe Oregonian Staff
Anxiety simmers at the Oregon Zoo, and it's no wonder.

For the first time in 14 years, just as the zoo faces key decisions about its future, one of its Asian elephants -- the institution's flagship species -- is about to give birth.

If all goes well, an adorably wobbly, floppy eared calf could draw tens of thousands of extra visitors and prompt a wave of positive publicity at an opportune time: Metro, which owns the zoo, will ask voters in November to approve a $117 million bond measure to upgrade exhibits and, perhaps, buy more land for the elephants.
But as Tony Vecchio recently put it: "I am one of those people saying not to count your baby elephants before they . . . ."

Without finishing his sentence, the zoo director made his point. Elephant pregnancies seldom deliver predictability.

Stillbirths are common. Calf mortality rates run at least 30 percent, according to the zoo.

To make matters sketchier, Rose-Tu -- the last elephant born at the zoo, Aug. 31, 1994 -- is a first-time mother-to-be who never has witnessed a birth. If she delivers a healthy calf, keepers have no idea how she might react. Some inexperienced elephant mothers nurture their newborns; others neglect or kill their young.

Such an outcome might incite animal activists who campaign against captive breeding and fight to divest zoos of elephants, or push them to give the animals vastly more room to roam.

So the zoo crew plans for best-case scenarios -- and for the worst.

They expect that 7,666-pound Rose, near the end of a typical 22-month pregnancy, could deliver as early as this week or as late as Oct. 8. Tests indicate she's probably carrying a female.
Volunteers monitor her round-the-clock, watching for signs of labor. The veterinary staff draws blood daily, looking for a drop in the hormone progesterone. When it plummets, labor should start within five days.


Racing to breed


Elephants have entranced Oregonians since at least April 14, 1962, when Portland's beloved Packy arrived. All ears and wrinkles and wiry hair, 225-pound Packy was the first elephant born in North America in more than 40 years.

That year, attendance tripled.

A baby boom followed. Portland's zoo produced 27 elephant calves from the 1960s to the 1990s, more than any other North American zoo.

But like pachyderm programs nationwide, Portland's ran short of space for the burly beasts. Breeding stopped.

Zoos didn't reinvigorate their programs until a study published in 2000 delivered ominous news: Unless breeding resumed, so many Asian elephants would have died that by 2050 fewer than 20 would remain in North American zoos.

Today, programs affiliated with the Association of Zoos & Aquariums hold about 141 Asian and 150 African elephants; the Oregon Zoo's three males and three females are Asians.

Coast to coast, recent headlines trumpet breeding successes:

"Meet Li'l Miss Elephant" -- St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Zoo's Newest Baby Elephant Stands on Her Own Four Feet" -- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"Mikki is Packing a Baby Pachyderm" -- The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.

After Mikki, an African elephant, delivered the Louisville Zoo's first-ever calf in March 2007, the zoo saw something the Oregon Zoo might expect: record-breaking attendance. Oregon Zoo attendance topped 1.5 million in the fiscal year ending June 30.

When people hit the gates," said Kara Bussabarger, Louisville's public relations manager, "they say, 'Let's go see Scotty!' . . . He's the face of the zoo now."

He's the face on the Louisville telephone book, too.

When the St. Louis Zoo's calf, Maliha, first went on exhibit in 2006, among those waiting to see her were crews from ABC's "Good Morning America" and NBC's "The Today Show."

Clearly, elephants -- charismatic megafauna, as they're known -- can be good for zoos, and their offspring an even bigger plus.

Life grows richer and bonds among a herd's females tend to strengthen when a calf arrives; they all help raise the little one, as wild cow elephants do.

"It's important to the zoo from an education and conservation standpoint," said Mike Keele, Oregon Zoo deputy director and coordinator of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums' Asian Elephant Species Survival Plan.

"It allows us to see the inner workings of a herd," he said. "Most people won't be able to go to Asia or Africa to see them in the wild. That's a special thing we can provide our visitors and, hopefully, inspire them to want to take action to conserve elephants" threatened by habitat loss, poaching and extinction.

Zoos, however, have taken heavy publicity hits over elephants. While some, such as Oregon's, expand their collections, others, such as the San Francisco Zoo, hand their elephants over to sanctuaries and close inadequate exhibits.

Even much-anticipated births have caused anguish.

In January, the 40-year-old matriarch of the Fort Worth Zoo's elephant herd went into labor and died a few days later, along with her unborn calf. Veterinarians figure a torn uterus killed her. Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo lost Hansa, a 6-year-old calf, to a herpes virus last summer. And this month, that zoo's Chai, 29, suffered a miscarriage.

"I'm not allowing the staff to spend too much time or money advertising or marketing something that is so risky," Oregon Zoo's Vecchio said. "When we're comfortable that it's successful, we might do a few things . . . but I'm reluctant to jinx it."


Worrying the details


For now, zoo employees and volunteers watch, wait and worry.

"There are like 80 million things I'm worried about," said Mitch Finnegan, chief veterinarian.

Top among them: anything other than a quick, uneventful labor and delivery.

If labor goes too long, Rose-Tu's calf could die before she can deliver. If the delivery is traumatic, Rose-Tu might be too weak to care for her newborn
Before he took charge of the veterinary crew, Finnegan attended one other elephant birth: Rose's. What no one knew was that her mother, Me-Tu, carried twins, a rare condition typically fatal to mother and calves.

Me-Tu made it.

Her second calf, born about eight hours after Rose, survived only an hour.
Finnegan and his crew have studied footage of previous births. They've gathered gear -- everything from oxytocin, a medication that speeds labor, to a human breast pump for stimulating milk production.

Their most unusual medical tool: a winch mounted to a forklift, in case they need to pull the calf out of the birth canal.

Caesarean-section is not an option; an elephant apparently never has survived one. However, veterinarians have had some success with a surgery similar to an episiotomy, making room to reach inside and try to assist the calf during a difficult birth.

When Rose's time comes, her exhibit will close to the public; it could be days or longer before it reopens, depending on how the birth and bonding processes go -- eventualities impossible to predict.

Veterinarians and keepers will stay nearby but mostly out of Rose's sight, Finnegan said, "to let her do her own thing, without hovering and stressing her."

Unlike some zoos that tether cow elephants during labor and delivery, Portland's has selected to leave Rose unchained inside the barn, along with Shine and Chendra, the zoo's other cows.

Chances are, Rose will look anxious. She could quit eating or distance herself from Shine and Chendra. As contractions intensify, she might lean into walls or stretch her legs.

If all goes well, at some point later she'll bear down. Her rear legs will bend and separate. A bulge will appear below her tail as the calf descends and emerges, covered in the amniotic sac.

Rose -- or keepers if need be -- will move the sac so the calf can breathe.

Then "all hell breaks loose," said Keele, a former elephant keeper who was on duty for six Oregon Zoo births and on call for six more.

"The females should start trumpeting and roaring," welcoming the newest member of their herd.

Katy Muldoon: 503-221-8526; katymuldoon@news.oregonian.com

DOUBLE THE PLEASURE

ZOO WELCOMES SECOND BABY ELEPHANT


The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium’s elephant team is seeing double these days. Moja, the Zoo’s second pregnant elephant, has given birth. The new female calf arrived at 5:30 a.m., July 25, 2008. This is the second baby elephant birth for the Zoo this month. On July 9, Savanna gave birth to a baby girl. “This will certainly be a balancing act with two baby elephants. They will keep us on our toes,” says Willie Theison, Pittsburgh Zoo elephant manager. In addition, Moja set a record for the longest pregnancy on record for an African elephant, being pregnant 688 days. The previous record was 674 days. And, it is not the only record Moja has set. When Victoria, Moja’s first calf, was born in 1999, Moja became the first African elephant born at a U.S. Zoo to give birth at a U.S. Zoo.

“We have so many emotions. We are thrilled, but exhausted all at the same time,” says Dr. Barbara Baker, president and CEO of the Zoo. “It was another incredible birth and a milestone in improving the care and understanding of African elephants.” The first 30 days of
the young elephant’s life are critical. She must first accomplish the important milestone of bonding successfully with her mother and the rest of the herd. Continuing to grow is the next important step

The mortality rate for African elephants in the U.S. has decreased since 2003. Ten years ago it was more than 40 percent, now it is closer to 15 percent. “Advanced technology, such as 4-D ultrasound, and information we learn from each birth is helping tremendously in lowering the mortality rate,” says Dr. Baker. “For instance we now know a key component for a successful birth is exercise. Moja and Savanna have had an exercise routine for the past two years that includes vigorous walks through the Zoo. We were more concerned with Moja’s pregnancy because she was overdue. We were in uncharted territory.”

The new baby girl elephant appears to be doing very well and is bonding with her mother. With the help of her mother, the newborn calf stood up about 20 minutes after she was born. “They are so clumsy at first,” says Theison. “They need to learn to walk and to use their trunks.” Moja’s baby will learn a lot by watching and mimicking her mother and older sister Victoria’s, behavior, as well as other members of the elephant herd. “This will be good experience for Victoria. She has the opportunity to develop her own maternal skills by watching her mother handle the new baby,” says Theison.

Today’s birth is the fourth successful birth of an African elephant at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. Victoria was born to Moja in September of 1999. Callee was born to Savanna in September of 2000. Jackson, the father of all four calves, is one of three breeding bulls in the country. One of the major goals of the Pittsburgh Zoo is to work to ensure the survival of African elephants in North America and ultimately help to protect the species in Africa. There are currently 149 African elephants in 49 Zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and many of them are aging, which emphasizes the need for successful breeding programs.”