Sweden sees birth of first male baby elephant

The birth was in fact a bit of a surprise as the baby’s mother ‘Dudu’ was not due until end of August, Expressen reports.

Bo Kjellson, head of operations at Borås Zoo, told how the mother went into labour on Monday shortly before noon. Staff were not in place at the time, but surveillance cameras at the zoo recorded the event.

“Of course we knew that Dudu was pregnant but had worked out that her due date was at the end of August”, Kjellson said.

“But it doesn’t matter that it was a bit earlier than planned, everything went very well.”

The elephant baby boy already has two older sisters, Kwanza and Panzi. Their names are Swahili names which they were given as they are African elephants.

When Kwanza was born in 2001 it was the first time ever that an elephant baby was born in a Swedish zoo.

For now the main thing is for the new baby elephant and his mother to get some rest, said Bo Kjellson. A new name hasn’t been chosen yet and according to Kjellson, that will be decided by the animals’ caretakers.