A 220-Pound Elephant Calf Arrived a Month Early at Copenhagen Zoo

Keepers at Copenhagen Zoo arrived at work on Tuesday morning to find a new elephant. Surin, a 28-year-old Asian elephant, had given birth during the night, about a month earlier than expected.

The male calf was born at about 11:15 p.m. on Monday, November 9, at the end of a pregnancy lasting around 22 months. He weighed an estimated 100 kilograms, about 220 pounds, and by the time keepers found him he was already up and walking among the other elephants.

"We had expected the birth to be a little further away, so it was quite a surprise to arrive at work," said Mads Bertelsen, the zoo's zoological director. "Fortunately, the calf, which is a male, appears to be doing well, and it is wonderful to see how the entire elephant herd gathers around the newborn."

The birth happened naturally inside the herd, with no intervention from keepers or veterinarians. The female elephants gathered around the calf and helped him to his feet, which Bertelsen noted is an important part of elephants' natural behavior.

He was also born onto new ground. The calf arrived on a softer floor covering made from willow wood chips that the zoo had installed in the elephant house only the week before.

The calf is big for a newborn, and the comparison lives right there in the herd. He is nearly twice the birth weight of Rawi, a calf born at the zoo in March to Surin's daughter Mun, and despite being about eight months younger, he is already almost as large as Rawi is now.

Staff and veterinarians are monitoring Surin and the calf closely, particularly to confirm that he is nursing well. Visitors can watch the herd from the first floor of the elephant house.

The new calf also makes Surin both a mother and a grandmother in the same year. Rawi, the March calf he is already nearly as big as, is her grandson, born to her daughter Mun. A 22-month pregnancy is among the longest of any land mammal, so a herd that produces two calves in eight months, one of them a month early and thriving, is having the kind of year elephant teams plan entire careers around.

Asian elephants are endangered, and each birth feeds into international breeding efforts for the species. Copenhagen's newest arrival just started his a month ahead of schedule, on his feet, surrounded by family.