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Photography by Katie Pilgram/Saint Louis Zoo
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Update: The names for the baby poll have been announced. You can choose between Cai, Violet, Willow, Harper, and Priya. To vote, go to the zoo's website, Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.
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On Friday night at about 11 p.m., Ellie, the Saint Louis Zoo's Asian elephant, gave birth to a baby girl (or female calf, in animal kingdom terms). Both mother and child are reportedly doing well.
If you think human pregnancies are tough, consider this: Ellie's pregnancy lasted nearly two years, and her calf is 38 inches tall and weighs 251 pounds. For the past two months, Ellie has been on "24-hour pregnancy watch," as zookeepers tracked her progress. This is Ellie's third baby, and she is also a grandmother. The father is Raja, who was the first elephant ever born at the Saint Louis Zoo.
"An experienced mother and grandmother, Ellie was, of course, very nurturing, caring for her newborn baby from the very beginning," said Martha Fischer, curator of mammals, in a news release. "She did a great job of carrying and giving birth to a beautiful baby girl."
The baby isn't on display just yet, so she can have some bonding time with Mom. No date has been set for the newborn's debut. She also doesn't have a name, though the zoo says it will be announcing a naming contest on its Facebook page soon. The girl is already a social media celebrity: As of Monday morning, her birth announcement had more than 34,000 likes and more than 10,000 shares.
Joking aside, every successful birth is important for an endangered species. Current estimates indicate that there are only between 35,000 and 50,000 Asian elephants left in the wild, meaning the threat of extinction is very real.
