The Saint Louis Zoo announced one of their elephants is pregnant!
Asian elephant, Rani, is pregnant and due to give birth in summer 2020. Rani, 23, is the mother of Jade who is 12 years old.
The Zoo’s bull elephant, 26-year-old Raja, is the father. He was the first Asian elephant ever born at the Zoo in 1992, and this calf will be his fifth offspring.
“We’re looking forward to the new calf joining our multi-generational elephant family, and we’re optimistic that everything will go well for Rani,” said Katie Pilgram-Kloppe, Acting Curator of River’s Edge at the Saint Louis Zoo, and Assistant Director, Saint Louis Zoo WildCare Institute Center for Asian Elephant Conservation.
“Breeding and calf rearing is one part of our robust, multi-faceted animal welfare program, and important to the elephants’ social structure.
Our experienced, professional elephant care team is providing exceptional care for Rani during her pregnancy, including customized exercise and birth plans.”
An elephant pregnancy lasts about 22 months and a newborn weighs about 250 to 350 pounds. Rani receives regular prenatal health checkups by the zoo’s elephant care team. At this point, the sex of the calf is unknown.
Rani is part of a 9-member, three-generation elephant family that includes Ellie (mother), Maliha, Jade (daughter), Priya, Donna, Sri, Pearl and Raja at the Zoo’s River’s Edge and Elephant Woods habitats.
Rani and Ellie arrived at the Saint Louis Zoo in 2001 from the Jacksonville Zoo, where Rani was born in 1996.