Keepers preparing for birth of African elephant

By: ANDREA MOSS - Staff Writer | Friday, January 23, 2004 11:31 PM PST ∞

ESCONDIDO ---- The countdown has begun, even if nobody knows when it will end. Anticipation is mounting behind the scenes at the San Diego Wild Animal Park, where keepers are closely monitoring a pregnant African elephant that is expected to give birth in the next month or two.

Ultrasounds and hormone tests suggest the mother is about 21 months into a pregnancy that, if it follows the average, will last 22 months.

Trouble is, no one knows exactly when the little one was conceived. And given that elephant gestation periods can vary by a couple of weeks either way, the actual due date is anyone's guess.

The uncertainty hasn't dampened anyone's spirits at the park, where they are preparing for the new arrival in the 3-acre African elephant enclosure.

The ultrasounds ---- done every Tuesday ---- are adding to the excitement because they reveal far more than was possible during any previous elephant pregnancies.

"I just talked to the leading experts in this technology, and they were very impressed," the park's animal care manager, Jeff Andrews, said happily on Friday. "Not only are we able to see 30 centimeters into the mother's abdomen, we've seen both sides of the calf and through the calf.

"We've been able to monitor the fetus' viability and position. We've seen ribs, we've seen a heartbeat, we've seen a shoulder blade, and we've seen appendages .... The calf looks normal and healthy."

Besides its birthdate, at least one other aspect of the baby pachyderm remains a mystery, though.

"There are two $68,000 questions ---- when's it going to be born, and will it be a male or a female?" Andrews said, with a laugh.

The developing calf's well-being is of interest to many because its mother, Ndlulamitsi, is one of 11 pachyderms that attracted international attention last year when they were imported from a Swaziland preserve to the United States.

A coalition of animal rights and conservation groups unsuccessfully sued to stop the transfer, which was the first involving African elephants in 20 years.

The animals are classified as endangered. Zoological Society officials have said the importation was necessary to revive a dying North American breeding program for the species. They also maintain the transfer saved the animals from being killed due to elephant overpopulation in Swaziland.

Four of the animals went to the Lowry Park Zoo in Florida. The other seven ---- a male and six females --- are at the Wild Animal Park.

Officials at other zoos and animal parks around the country are following the pregnancy of the Wild Animal Park's mom-to-be, whose nickname is Ndlula (pronounced N-doola), because of its implications for the breeding efforts, Andrews said.

The calf will also be the first African elephant born at the park in over a decade.

"The industry is watching what we do very carefully ---- the whole world, as a matter of fact," he said.

All seven of the park's African elephants were loping around on the grass that covers the main yard of their enclosure Friday afternoon. Picking Ndlula out from the others from a distance was difficult even for Andrews and park spokeswoman Yadira Galindo, who know the animals well. Elephants don't really "show" their pregnancies as humans do.

A team of animal-care specialists monitoring the expectant mother has seen clear indications of her condition, though, said Andrews.

The signs include a definite weight gain of about 200 kilos, fluctuating hormones and, of course, the ultrasounds, which started at the beginning of December, he said.

Ndlula is fully cooperative with keepers' tests and exams, thanks to daily training sessions in which keepers use rewards to entice all the elephants into exhibiting desired behaviors, the animal-care manager said.

"She willingly stands still for us while we approach her and ultrasound her with the same type of ultrasound every woman who's pregnant undergoes," Andrews said of Ndlula.

Live footage from a video of the most recent ultrasound showed a clearly visible rib cage and a tiny heart that appeared to beat strong and regularly.

The care team is using information gathered from the ultrasounds, urinalyses and other tests to track the pregnancy and the calf's development. The technology available now means the team will be able to compile a record that can be used to determine which stage a mother African elephant is at in future pregnancies, Andrews said.

At the same time, plans for the calf's arrival in the main enclosure are being made. A delivery surrounded by the other pachyderms would be natural and ideal, he said.

Elephants typically gather around a female as she gives birth, to protect mother and baby from danger, Andrews said.

But if all doesn't go as planned, "we are prepared for a wide variety of possibilities that could occur during the birth," he said. "But our intention and plan is 'hands off' as much as possible and let Ndlula and Mother Nature do their thing."

Animal nutritionist Mark Edwards, who has developed special formulas in case they are needed for the calf, said the 10-year-or-more gap since the last elephant birth at the park makes the upcoming one even more thrilling.

"We're very excited to have this opportunity to take care of the baby elephant," he said.

Contact staff writer Andrea Moss at (760) 739-6654 or amoss@nctimes.com.