The first African elephant born in the United States this year, and the first ever born in Arizona, recently made her debut appearance at the Reid Park Zoo in Tucson.
When born, she immediately took a breath, stood up within a few minutes, and, within the hour, was nursing. A week later, she weighed 245 pounds and was declared a healthy and happy baby elephant.
According to the director of the Reid Park Zoo, Jason Jacobs, everyone played an important role in monitoring her mother, Semba, round the clock since early July. Now, the baby is under constant supervision from the zoo staff and she is allowed to the far side of the exhibit for some sun and exercise for a couple of hours every day. She can now lay at the edge of her mud wallow, and in hardened mud.
The calf still stays close to her mother, with walks in the morning and naps in the afternoon. She is beginning to integrate with her father, Mabu, and her siblings Sundzu and Punga, who came in 2012 to the zoo with the rest of the herd.
Names are being selected for the young pachyderm and, once a list is created, the zoo staff could turn to the services of printing companies to create materials and help the public come to a naming decision
