2nd Swazi elephant gives birth in Usa

SITEKI - A second Swazi elephant has given birth to a healthy calf in a zoo in the United States of America (USA).

 Bay News 9 reported on Saturday that one of the 11 Swazi elephants kept at Lowry Park Zoo in Florida had given birth to a healthy calf.
 Seven months ago, another Swazi elephant kept at the zoo also gave birth to a healthy calf which was  named Mpumi.

“The new-born is the first African elephant calf born in an accredited North American zoo in 2013. It’s the second calf born in Tampa from a herd of 11 elephants rescued from culling in Swaziland a decade ago, and the third calf born in the zoo’s history,” the publication reported.

Calf

The publication reported that the calf, which is still to be named, was born at about 11:20am on July, 29.
It was further reported that the  elephant which gave birth to the calf is called Matjeka.
Meanwhile, the birth of the calf has attracted a lot of interest from the USA media.

Over the weekend several publications, mostly those that are online, carried articles about the birth of a healthy calf by a Swazi elephant.
 UPI.COM, an online publication, reported that the calf was sired by another Swazi bull elephant called S’dudla.

The publication further quoted Craig Pugh, the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at the Zoo as saying: “Thanks to on-going support from the Tampa Bay community, we have the animal care professionals, space, and facilities to do our part for elephant species survival.
“Guests at the zoo can be up close to elephant families seen less often in Africa. Successful elephant families are the building blocks for species survival”

The publication also described African elephants as having the largest brain when compared to other land animals.
“African elephants are known for their complex family units that organise around closely related females and their calves.
Researchers say elephants are highly intelligent, with the largest brain of any land animal,” the publication said.

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