The Portland Zoo has a new baby…weighing in a 286 pounds…a darling little elephant. His entry into the world wasn’t without stress and concern for his life. His Mama, Rose-Tu, is a first time mother and she was in labor for nearly two days (after 22 months of pregnancy), which is enough to make any female cranky and out of sorts. It is normal for a mother elephant to “kick” her baby to get him breathing and up on his feet, but Rose-Tu kept kicking this little bundle until zoo-keepers could get the baby out of her way…24 hours later, Mom and Son, under the watchful eye of the zoo-keepers, are doing better together.
The latest news article, from OregonLive says: “Nearly a full day after Rose-Tu and her traumatized calf were reunited Sunday following his birth, the two were behaving more and more today as a healthy mother and son elephant should. The calf squalled whenever he was hungry, and his mom allowed him to nurse. He nursed so much that two thirds of his meals came directly from her and only one third had to be supplemented with a formula made especially for baby Asian elephants. The calf meandered in and out of his mother's enormous legs and she didn't step on him or kick him the way she did as soon as he was born. The calf leaned against her side and she smelled him all over with her trunk. As the touching, pushing and prodding continued in a positive way, zoo keepers slowly loosened some of the restrictions limiting Rose-Tu's behavior and crept further from the interaction. "I'm really pleased to say at this point in time, we've removed many of those restrictions," said Mike Keele, deputy director of the Oregon Zoo, said at an afternoon press conference. The goal is to teach Rose-Tu learn healthy maternal behavior so she may one day take over rearing the infant without assistance from the zoo staff. While there is scant data on what the infant's chance of survival is without her help, baby elephants raised by their mothers fare better than those hand-raised by humans, Keele said.”
Isn't he just the cutest!! Can't wait to go see him.
He is absolutely adorable. It is so hard to imagine how big they will finally be.
Cece
Posted by: Cecelia | August 26, 2008 at 02:20 PM