HOUSTON — The Houston Zoo has another BIG reason to give thanks this season. A baby elephant was born on November 15, the zoo's second birth announcement in the last week.
The zoo named her Kirby.
Shanti, a 34-year-old Asian elephant, gave birth to the healthy, 314-pound female after a 19-hour labor. The baby daddy is Shanti's longtime boyfriend, 58-year-old Thailand.
The zoo says Kirby was standing six minutes after birth and walking 25 minutes later. That worked up an appetite and Shanti began nursing her newborn within 90 minutes.
The zoo's elephant and veterinary teams have been keeping a close watch on Shanti throughout her 21-month-long pregnancy. Elephants have one of the longest gestation periods of any land mammal.
Shanti and Kirby underwent post-natal exams and both passed with flying colors.
Mother and daughter will spend several days bonding behind the scenes before they are ready to make their public debut at the McNair Asian Elephant Habitat. During the bonding period, the team is watching for Kirby to share several key moments, including communicating with Mom and hitting weight goals.
This is Shanti's seventh calf born at the Houston Zoo.
The new big bundle of joy will join siblings Nelson and Joy. Nelson weighed a whopping 385 pounds when he was born in 2020. Joy was a petite 305 pounds at birth in 2017. Nelson weighed a whopping 385 pounds when he was born in 2020.
Just by visiting the Houston Zoo, guests help save baby elephants and their families in the wild. A portion of each zoo admission and membership goes to protecting wild elephants in Asia. The zoo provides funds for elephant conservationist Nurzhafarina “Farina” Othman and her team to put tracking collars on wild elephants. The collars are used to follow the elephants, collecting valuable movement data that is used to inform future protection for the elephant families as they travel through the forests.
Other recent additions at the Houston Zoo
Last week, the zoo announced the birth of a beautiful baby jaguar born to first-time mom Vida. He hasn't been named yet.
On Nov. 1, the zoo welcomed another family member. Akobi is a four-and-a-half-year-old, 477-pound male pygmy hippopotamus who was moved to Houston from San Francisco.