Sunday, July 27, 2008

Pittsburgh Zoo Baby Elephant #2!

Say "Hello" to African elephant baby #2! Early Friday morning, the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium announced that their long awaited second baby African elephant finally decided to make her grand appearance in the world. After a record setting 688 day pregnancy, I bet mommy Moja was estatic about the arrival too! And just like her half-sister, she's become the center of attention and another media darling. Soon after her birth the zoo issued the following news release:

"The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium's elephant staff is seeing double these days!  Moja, the Zoo's second pregnant elephant has given birth. After just 20 minutes of labor, Moja delivered her baby at 5:30 a.m. Friday, July 25. This is the second baby elephant birth for the Zoo this month. On July 9, Savanna gave birth to a baby girl, Angelina. Moja set a record for the longest pregnancy on record for an African elephant, being pregnant 688 days. The new elephant calf weighs 247 pounds. The first 30 days are the most critical for the new baby, but she is nursing and bonding very well with her mother. The baby will not be on exhibit for several days but visitors can see first baby Angelina and the rest of the elephant"

Check out this Post-Gazette article detailing her birth early Friday morning. On Saturday, the Post-Gazette ran another story detailing the 1-day old pachyderm's progress.

And the sweetest thing ever about of this latest birth is this video that the Pittsburgh Zoo posted on YouTube soon after her birth. I am sure you will enjoy watching the video! And while you are at it, you might enjoy watching the zoo's other videos too. I know I did!

I'll be barking to you later!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

She is so sweet looking! LOVED the video too! Thanks for sharing