Welcome, Maliha!
It seems like only yesterday that she was born, but Maliha, one of two young Asian elephants, celebrated her second birthday on August 2, 2008.
Maliha weighed 341 pounds when she was born, and today she tips the scales at 1300 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 Maliha
It'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 Grandmother
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 15-1/2, 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.
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.
"Q&A"
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!
|
