Big Delivery! Baby Elephant Born At San Diego Zoo Safari Park

ESCONDIDO, CA – San Diego Zoo Safari Park welcomed its newest – and biggest – baby elephant this week.

Umngani, a 28-year-old elephant, gave birth to a healthy, 281-pound female calf – the biggest calf ever to be born at the Safari Park in Escondido. A newborn calf generally weighs 200 to 268 pounds at birth.

Security camera footage confirmed that the elephant calf came into the world at 11:20 p.m. Wednesday.

Umngani "has given birth three other times, and those calves arrived late, so when we checked on her first thing this morning, we were surprised and thrilled to see her caring for her healthy newborn," said Curtis Lehman, animal care supervisor at the Safari Park.

"Umngani is a great mom, and she and the baby are doing very well," Lehman said.

The unnamed calf began nursing shortly after it was born, according to the zoo. The new calf will be introduced to the remainder of the herd within the next day or so, including another calf, a male named Umzuli-Zuli or "Zuli," born Aug. 12 to mother Ndula.

The Safari Park is now home to 14 elephants – four adults and 10 youngsters. The adults were rescued in 2003 from the Kingdom of Swaziland, where they faced being culled, according to park officials.

Anyone interested in catching a glimpse of the new calf can check out the park's elephant webcam at sdzsafaripark.org/elephant-cam.

Also see:

• Baby Elephant Born At Safari Park On World Elephant Day

Photo credit: Photo was taken on Sept. 28, 2018 by Ken Bohn, San Diego Zoo Safari Park