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Zoo staff wait for new baby elephant
They’re hoping for a girl, but like any nervous parent, the staff at Melbourne Zoo will be happy with a healthy baby as they await the imminent birth of their first elephant calf.
Asian elephant Dokkoon, who was brought from Thailand three years ago where she was working as an attraction in a tourist camp, is about to give birth to only the second elephant ever born in Australia.
Australia’s first home-grown elephant arrived at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo in July – a boy named Luk Chai.
Zoo vet Michael lynch took some blood samples from Dokkoon on Thursday which will help him tell when the infant is due after 22 months of pregnancy.
They are expecting the new arrival around late December – a perfect Christmas present for the staff.
Dokkoon is doing stretching exercises to prepare for the first elephant birth at Melbourne Zoo.
Dr Lynch says a sharp drop in the progesterone levels will indicate that Dokkoon is in the final stage of pregnancy and likely to deliver soon.
Leading elephant reproductive specialist, Dr Thomas Hildebrandt, is on call and will be on the first plane to Melbourne from Berlin to be here for the birth.
Like any pregnant mum, Dokkoon gets regular stretching exercises and a nutrient-rich diet.
Keepers are familiarising her with bringing up baby by rolling a tyre around her legs imitating a baby elephant.
Senior curator Jan Steele would prefer Dokkoon gives birth to a girl because females stay with their mother their entire life while males migrate from the family between five and 10 years old.
“The mums teach the little girls so in the next generation we won’t have to do as much work because the mums have taught the daughters,” Ms Steele says.
“These elephants were taken away from their families early on, they were working elephants so they haven’t had that chance to learn.”
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