New baby elephant born at Whipsnade Zoo after two-year pregnancy

ZSL Whipsnade Zoo

A baby elephant born after the longest pregnancy recorded at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo is also the smallest baby ever recorded there.

After a whopping 700-day pregnancy, the newest addition to the zoo's Asian elephant herd was born at 12:15am on Tuesday last week (18 October).

ZSL Whipsnade Zoo

Experienced mum Azizah gave birth to her third baby – a male – after going through the longest pregnancy ever experienced at the Zoo. The normal gestation period for an Asian elephant is 22 months but the new calf stayed put for around 700 days – nearly two years.

ZSL Whipsnade Zoo

Despite this, the new calf (who has yet to be named) is also the smallest elephant ever born at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo weighing in at just 104kg, around 16 stone, at birth. Keepers were initially worried the pint-sized pachyderm would not be tall enough to reach his mum's milk, but he quickly learned to get on his tip-toes and has had no problem feeding.

Elephant keeper Lee Sambrook said: 'Azizah took to him straightaway and the rest of the herd are so excited to be around the baby and touch it. Elephants are social animals and having youngsters joining the herd is what elephant life is about.'

ZSL Whipsnade Zoo

'The baby is venturing out of the elephant barn with the rest of the herd on warmer days, where visitors can see him outside in the paddock playing with his siblings and suckling his mum.'

Visit zsl.org for more information

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