Baby Elephant born

After a miracle birth on Wednesday (March 10), a baby elephant nicknamed Mr. Shuffles by zoo staff, made his first appearance outside on Sunday (March 14) with his mother, 18-year-old Thai elephant Porntip.It was the first time Mr. Shuffles left the barn to explore his new enclosure. He was still a bit shaky on his feet and looking shy, but the elephant manager at the zoo, Gary MIller, said it was a major milestone for the newborn."Today's a milestone, just having the kid out and about says that he is strong enough to negotiate uneven ground. Because of his compromised position as he came out and was born, we didn't know if he had brain damage from lack of oxygen from such a prolonged birth," he said.Mr. Shuffles was born after a difficult nine day labour and Miller credited mom's persistence for the birth."This was a very traumatic, a very prolonged labour and according to our ultrasounds we watched the calf in many different positions, most of them wrong in the process of trying to get out, but mum was very patient. She persisted every day, two or three times a day she would go into a pretty long protracted labour trying to get the kid to come out," Miller explained.Zoo staff have been caring for the calf around the clock. Miller admitted there was still much to learn about elephants and their birth process."There's so much we don't know about these guys and we're just starting to find out because we are now able to do ultrasounds and follow the progress as the calves are emerging," he said.The zoo has seven Thai names in mind for the calf, which will be decided by public vote. Names include Pat Harn, meaning miracle, Tay Wan (boy in heaven), Ming Khwan (good internal strength and attitude), Nam Chok (brings with him good fortune), Mongkon (auspicious), Boon Thung (merit has led to reaching this life), and Chok Dee (very good luck).

Channel: News & Politics
Uploaded: November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am
Author: wane

Length: 02:08
Rating: 5.0
Views: 7259

Tags: Baby  Elephant  born  

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