Noorjahan, Twycross Zoo’s Asian elephant, gave birth to the male
calf on Thursday 6 August after a 22 month gestation period. He has a
fluffy layer of grey hair all over his body and stands just over a
metre tall; he weighs just over 100 kg (nearly 16 stone).
Our “little” boy is quite a character. He’s
strong and feisty whilst remaining under the vigilant eye of his
protective mother. Lucky members of the public may be able to catch a
quick glimpse of him, but he is still having quiet times in the
elephant house during the day.
He will suckle from his Noorjahan until he is
approximately 12 months old then he will begin to take solids such as
vegetables, fruit and hay. When he is fully grown he will eat his way
through four bales of hay every day, these will be accompanied by
several buckets of fruit and vegetables along with numerous gallons of
water a day to wash it all down.
This is the third elephant birth for Twycross Zoo
and strangely enough he was born on the same day as our first elephant
baby, Tara, who was born in 1998. Tara is still at the Zoo with her
mother Tonzi and is proving to be an excellent aunt to the new calf.