Officials at Reid Park Zoo in Tucson are celebrating the birth of a baby elephant. Zoo officials say the baby was born Monday to Semba, a 30-year-old African elephant, and that it weighed nearly 300 pounds after 22 months of gestation.
Officials describe the baby elephant as “healthy, standing and nursing.”
The baby wasn’t given a name immediately.
Semba has given birth before but zoo officials said during her pregnancy that she was being closely monitored through physical exams, blood work and ultrasounds.
The new calf expands the zoo’s elephant herd to six, including the baby’s parents, two older siblings and an adult female.
The Reid Park Zoo is currently closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
