The Newest, Cutest Baby Animals from the World's Zoos & Aquariums

Steady Progress for Taronga’s Miracle Elephant Calf

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Taronga Zoo’s newborn male Asian Elephant calf continued to make progress overnight. His dedicated keepers, who monitored the newborn throughout the night, were delighted that the calf has begun to suckle from his mother, Porntip, unassisted and moving around without help. This is an encouraging sign after he survived a protracted labour before being delivered alive against the odds yesterday morning at 3.27 am. Both he and his mother are well and will be staying in the warm barn today.

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Photo Credits: Bobby-Jo Vial / Taronga Zoo

More pics below the jump

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20100311-porntip-calf-sleeping-bobby-jo-vial-hi

Taronga's Elephant Blog has more details and is tracking the progress.

11 responses to “Steady Progress for Taronga’s Miracle Elephant Calf”

  1. Smilla Avatar
    Smilla

    We’re with you all the way, little fella! Keep thriving…

    Reply
  2. DianaF Avatar
    DianaF

    Why are his eyes so red? Do all baby elephants have eyes like that?
    He’s very cute, I’m sure he’ll thrive.

    Reply
  3. Lisa Avatar
    Lisa

    I was wondering if the difficult and prolonged labor broke some blood vessels in his eyes.

    Reply
  4. Smilla Avatar
    Smilla

    Taronga Zoo have said the red eyes are normal in baby elephants and will fade to normal.

    Reply
  5. Sarah Avatar
    Sarah

    The bottom picture is like ‘YAY! The baby finally went to sleep!’
    I’m glad the little chap is okay and I hope he grows up big and strong. It must be an exciting time to work at Taronga Zoo.

    Reply
  6. Laura Avatar
    Laura

    I’m so glad to hear that he’s doing well, and I too hope that he continues to get stronger and grow. I was almost afraid to check back today to find out. I wonder if his build (and those extra 20 kg) are the reason for the exceptionally long labour.

    Reply
  7. Elyse Avatar
    Elyse

    Very glad to hear the little fella is doing okay!

    Reply
  8. Steph Avatar
    Steph

    I love the second to last photo…poor little guy wasn’t too sure which end was the one with the milk, I persume he figured it out eventually :p

    Reply
  9. Maggie Avatar
    Maggie

    This is wonderful, but do we really need all the”miracle” hype? It’s already a wonderful story without trying to tack on more superlatives and make it sound like some sort of supernatural experience.

    Reply
  10. michalka Avatar
    michalka

    im so glad the elphant is fine

    Reply
  11. Followmal Avatar
    Followmal

    This is the sweetest little baby. I’m so glad he’s doing well.

    Reply

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