Hogle Zoo’s baby elephant will soon make debut
SALT LAKE CITY — The baby elephant at Utah’s Hogle Zoo is getting ready to make her big debut. And she’ll soon have a name, too.
The zoo welcomed the African elephant calf on Aug. 10. She is the first baby for 23-year-old Christie and the first African elephant born at the zoo.
The young one will make her first appearance before the general public on Friday.
A couple of days after that, she’ll get a name. The zoo invites people to choose their favorite among five possibilities: Abenia, Apara, Khari, Aisha and Zuri. Translations for the names include “we ask for her, and behold, we got her,” “she is life” and “adorable or beautiful.”
Voting lasts through Sunday and details are on the zoo’s Web site.
In the meantime, the new elephant was exploring her enclosure on Tuesday, flopping around in the mud with Christie and figuring out how to use her legs and trunk.
As Christie, who had a 22-month pregnancy, chomped on carrots, the littler version worked hard just to pick up the vegetable with her small trunk — never mind eating it.
For now, the calf is strictly nursing. She has probably put on 10 to 20 pounds since being born at a hefty 251 pounds last month, said zoo spokeswoman Holly Braithwaite. She stands a little more than 3 feet tall.
The zoo’s elephant manager, Doug Tomkinson, said it will take 20 to 21 years for the elephant to reach her full height of up to 9 feet tall and 30 years to get to her full weight of 7,000 to 9,500 pounds. The average life span of an African elephant is 41 or 42 years old.
“She’s healthy, energetic,” Tomkinson said Tuesday as the calf scampered around in front of reporters, bumping big plastic balls and running under her mom’s belly. “She’s eating well and bonding well. We’ve passed a lot of big hurdles.”
Christie became pregnant after three attempts at artificial insemination in 2006 and 2007. An ultrasound performed by veterinary scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin confirmed the pregnancy in February 2008.
The zoo videotaped the birth but has decided not to release the footage, Braithwaite said.
Without scientific background, people might not understand what they’re seeing, such as some of Christie’s legs being strapped for safety, Tomkinson said.
“Each institution is different,” Braithwaite said. “The birth went great.”
On the Net:
www.hoglezoo.org
