Video: Baby elephant born at Rotterdam's Blijdorp Zoo
An Asian elephant calf was born on Wednesday just after midnight at the Blijdorp Zoo in Rotterdam. The young male elephant was born without any complication, the zoo announced on its website.
He has not yet been given a name. "Fortunately the delivery went well; within minutes of birth, the young was on its feet and soon began to search for the nipple," the zoo said. The calf's 20-year-old mother Bangka previously gave birth to 2 other baby elephants.
"Bangka gave birth in the company of her daughter Faya and mother Irma," the zoo remarked, adding, "Faya also finds her new brother very interesting."
With the family’s newest member, there are now seven elephants in total in Blijdorp. Fifteen healthy elephants have been born at the Rotterdam location in total.
The Blijdorp zoo is closed due to coronavirus restrictions, but people can still see the baby elephant through the live streams available on the zoo’s website or the zoo app.
Over the past five weeks, 3.7 million people were able to virtually visit the zoo, which is one of the oldest in the country, Blijdorp announced on their website.
The elephant was born on the same day the country marks Liberation Day. Last year, a baby Asian elephant was born at Artis Zoo in Amsterdam on Remembrance Day.
