Happy First Birthday, Maliha!It seems like only yesterday, but Maliha, one of two Asian elephants born at the Zoo this past year, celebrated her first birthday on Thursday, August 2. On her birthday, she spent time with her mother Ellie in the center elephant yard at River's Edge. Keeper chats about Maliha and her family were held in front of the yard periodically throughout the day. Maliha weighed 341 pounds when she was born, and today she tips the scales at 720 pounds. Some of her favorite things include playing in the water, playing soccer and play dates with her sister and best friend Jade. She still nurses from Ellie, but eats adult elephant food as well, such as hay, browse, grain, fruits and vegetables. On most summer days she is on display for periods of time with her mother and aunties. Her name is MalihaIt's Maliha (pronounced muh-lee-a), meaning "strong" and "beautiful." Over 20,000 votes were tallied over two weeks and the name Maliha received the most at 7,863. A Great Mom and Grandmother35-year-old Ellie gave birth to a 341-pound baby girl just after midnight on August 2, 2006. Maliha is Ellie's second baby and the first for the baby's father, Raja. Raja was the first elephant ever born at the Saint Louis Zoo. Now at age 14-1/2, he has his own family with daughters Maliha and Jade. Ellie is a fantastic mother and has helped guide the little one from the moment she was born. Ellie is also grandmother to Jade, born February 25 to Ellie's daughter Rani. Maliha made her public debut at the elephant habitat in River's Edge on August 25, 2006. Maliha is with her mother, Ellie, and socializes with her best friend Jade and all of the adult elephants, including father Raja, each day. The Saint Louis Zoo has been actively involved with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Species Survival Plan for Asian elephants. Together AZA-accredited zoos manage the breeding of Asian elephants to maintain healthy, self-sustaining populations that are genetically diverse and demographically stable. We care about elephants. Currently, there are fewer than 35,000 Asian elephants in the wild. There's no question that the Asian elephant population is facing extinction. Besides working with the AZA Species Survival Plan, our Zoo also supports conservation projects for Asian elephants in Sumatra and Sri Lanka. Thank you for all the well wishes for our new baby and her parents - as well as the elephant staff. We've received a ton of great questions from our visitors and have have tried to answer as many as possible. Check out some of these fun elephant facts!
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