Welcome Elephant Calf!

The Zoo joyfully welcomed a female Asian elephant calf named Daizy at 1:43am on Wednesday, September 2, 2009. The newborn tipped the scales at a whopping 318 pounds! This calf is the second elephant born at the Zoo and her mother, Rozie, was the first.

A New Mother

First-time mother Rozie is doing a great job with some help from her own mother Alice and the herd's matriarch Irene.

Rozana was born at the ABQ BioPark Zoo on November 8, 1992. Her mother, Alice, and father, Ranchipur of the San Diego Zoo, have no other living offspring.

Elephant Fathers

The calf is the result of artificial insemination with sperm from three donors. The father is Albert, one of the bull elephants at the Zoo.

In the wild, male elephants are not part of the matriarchal herd after they reach maturity. They live in bachelor herds or on their own. They interact with females only to mate.

Hope for Asian Elephants

Rozie's pregnancy was recommended by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Species Survival Plan for Asian elephants. Because Rozie has no siblings, she is genetically unique. Her calf adds to the diversity and strength of the North American population of Asian elephants.

The ABQ BioPark is an accredited member of AZA and a designated Elephant Breeding Facility. The AZA strives to maintain a self-sustaining population of the endangered elephants in North America.

Each year, the ABQ BioPark provides thousands of dollars from privately-raised revenue to support field projects in Asia and Africa through the International Elephant Foundation.

Read more about the ABQ BioPark's elephant herd.