Elephant born at Rotterdam’s Blijdorp Zoo

The Blijdorp Zoo in Rotterdam has a new resident. A brand new baby elephant was born around 3:30 on Thursday morning. This is the 16th elephant to be born in the Rotterdam zoo.

According to the zoo, the birth went very well. The little elephant was on its feet a few minutes after being born and was drinking about 1.5 hours later. At this stage it is impossible to determine the sex of the baby so it hasn't been named yet.

With the birth of this new baby, the Blijdorp elephant heard now consists of seven elephants, including one male. This is mother Bangka's second baby. She received support from her mother, Irma, during the birth. The Blijdorp elephant family has a close-knit social structure and the zoo expects that they will raise this new baby in that social context.

As the little elephant is doing so well, he will be shown to the public for part of today. He or she can also be seen on the live webcam stream on the zoo's website. The zoo is also giving regular updates on its website and Twitter and Facebook pages.