A second elephant calf in 2 weeks is born at a California zoo

FRESNO, California — The second elephant calf in two weeks has been born at a zoo in California.

African elephant Amahle gave birth early Monday morning, according to the Fresno Chaffee Zoo. The event occurred 10 days after Amahle’s mother, Nolwazi, gave birth. to suit to another male calf.

The new additions are the first elephants born at the zoo, about 150 miles southeast of San Francisco, which has a elephant breeding program in the hope that they will be seen by zoo visitors in years to come.

“Two healthy calves is a historic milestone,” Jon Forrest Dohlin, the zoo’s executive director, said in a statement Tuesday. “We can’t wait for the public to see the new additions to our herd and share our excitement.”

The elephants and their calves will continue to be monitored behind the scenes for now, Dohlin said. While the zoo has expanded its exhibit in anticipation of the growth of its herd, some animal rights activists have opposed the breeding program, saying elephants don’t belong in zoos because of their complex needs.

In 2022, the zoo brought in the male elephant Mabu in the hope that he would mate with the two females. The future of elephants — which have relatively few offspring and have a gestation period of 22 months — in zoos largely depends on breeding.