Feb 20, 2007 7:30 pm US/Eastern
Elephants Expecting At The Pittsburgh Zoo
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ―
It's a soap opera of sorts, one father, two females pregnant; it could be called "As The Zoo Turns."
Today, officials at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium announced two of its female African elephants are expecting babies.
Dr. Barbara Baker, the President and CEO of the zoo, says in the United States there are 48 zoos that have African elephants and they are all growing older so these babies are the key to an aging population.
"The population is quite old now. We're actually seeing a lot of older animals in that population so it's very important to breed the breedable females," she says.
Moja and Nan are about 18 weeks pregnant.
It wasn't confirmed until last week when the zoo engaged in a technological first, an elephant ultrasound.
"We're the first in the United States to use it," Baker reports. "As a matter of fact the folks we're working with, the Institute of Reproductive Wildlife Sciences in Berlin just purchased the machine a week before."
It's very difficult to determine a sex through the ultra sound; however, the head and a tiny trunk are visible.
Zoo officials say right now the babies are only about three inches long.
They say the breeding program began in late August, and that's when Nan and Moja caught the eye of Jackson.
Willie Thiesen, the zoo's elephant manager, says he has suspected pregnancies for the past couple of months.
He says the elephants' demeanor changed, and apparently, like humans, they don't stand in the way of a "mom-to-be" and food.
"With Nan there was a definite difference. She became much more attentive to the food and becomes much more aggressive with Moja and Victoria, and even her calf over food," Thiesen says.
An elephant's pregnancy lasts 20 to 22 months.
A healthy birth isn't a sure thing though; the mortality rate of African elephants at birth is 40 to 45 percent.
"The biggest concern is the exercise. Making sure they are physically fit, the muscle tone is good," he says. "The labor, I guess having a 200 to 250 pound baby takes a lot out of them. So I gear their exercise regimen to build stamina."
If that exercise regimen goes as well as planned, it should greatly decrease the mortality rate for the babies when they're born.
Zoo officials also say they will now expand the elephant barn to make room for the new additions. They are going to try to double its size. Also, it'll include heated floors and a viewing area so you can literally get nose to trunk.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
