(WSIL) -- The Saint Louis Zoo is celebrating the birth of an Asian elephant. It's the second male elephant ever born at the zoo.
23-year-old Asian elephant Rani gave birth to the yet-to-be-named baby boy on Monday, July 6th at 1:55 p.m.
“Rani and baby are doing very well,� said Tim Thier, Curator of Mammals/Ungulates and River’s Edge, and Director, Saint Louis Zoo WildCare Institute Center for Asian Elephant Conservation. “We’re thrilled to welcome Raja’s first son into our three-generation elephant family,� said Thier.
Rani is part of a 10-member, three-generation elephant family at the Zoo’s River’s Edge and Elephant Woods habitats. Rani arrived at the Saint Louis Zoo in 2001 from the Jacksonville Zoo, where Rani was born in 1996.
27-year-old Raja is the father of the newborn. He was the Asian elephant ever born at the Saint Louis Zoo in 1992, and this calf is his fifth offspring.
Mother and baby are bonding off public view and a debut date has not been set.
