It seems like only yesterday when Raja, our male Asian Elephant, was born. Raja was the first elephant ever born at the Saint Louis Zoo. Now at age 14, Raja is a dad - twice! The Saint Louis Zoo is proud to announce the birth of two Asian elephant babies. Maliha was born on August 2, 2006, just past midnight. Ellie, the Zoo's 35-year-old Asian elephant , gave birth to a 341-pound baby girl. It's Another Girl -- Jade! Ten-year-old Asian elephant Rani gave birth to her first baby at 8:21 p.m. on February 25, 2007. The little female weighed in at 236 pounds. Raja was the first elephant ever born at the Saint Louis Zoo. Now he's a seasoned father with two beautiful daughters! Sri Sri, a 26-year-old elephant, had been expected to deliver in November 2005. The Zoo was saddened to announce that complications in Sri's pregnancy have led to the death of her calf in utero. Sri’s demeanor and attitude remain normal. She’s eating well and currently living with her herdmates in River’s Edge. Prenatal careThe birth of an elephant in captivity is still a relatively rare event. Every expectant mother -- whether elephant or human -- needs good health care before giving birth, to safeguard the health of mother and baby. That’s definitely the case with our Zoo’s expectant elephant cows, who have received the best in prenatal care throughout their 22-month pregnancies. This care really began with our earliest efforts to determine whether the cows were pregnant. Sounds like this shouldn't be very hard, doesn't it? They're big animals, and kind of round, so it's hard to know if they're pregnant just by looking at them! One sure-fire way to know if an elephant is pregnant if by tracking her hormone levels. As with humans, female elephants' reproductive hormones go up and down. Endocrinologist Dr. Joan Bauman of the Zoo's Endocrinology Lab tracked Sri, Ellie and Rani's hormone levels over many, many months, even before they mated with our male, Raja. (These tests -- known as progesterone assays -- allow us to follow the cycles of the females, to precisely determine the best time to allow her to breed. All that’s left is to introduce the female to Raja for a period of time every day. Then elephant instincts do the rest!) After confirming the pregnancies, the Zoo's staff began monitoring each cow's weight very carefully. We didn't want the mothers to gain a lot of extra weight during pregnancy or the calf to be too big at birth. A baby elephant can weigh 250-350 pounds! As part of the weight control effort, our staff also started our expectant mothers on an accelerated fitness program. Not only can exercise help manage the cows' weight gain, but it also builds good muscle tone that will help them during delivery. One last important part of our pre-natal care package was making sure the pregnant moms were well nourished with healthy eating habits. Birth support groupEllie and Rani had a "support group" with two other female elephants, Donna and Sri. These cows are there for the pregnant elephants during and after the birth, the same way females behave in a wild elephant herd. We assigned two keepers per elephant to act as delivery coaches, with veterinarians standing by if necessary. We also assembled equipment and supplies that come in handy during delivery. Things like towels, lubricants, and ultrasound machines are familiar even to human obstetricians – though shopvacs may not be!
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