Second African elephant calf born in month at Beekse Bergen

Less than a month after the birth of the first African elephant calf, a second calf has been born in Safaripark Beekse Bergen. Sunday evening around 11:15 p.m., the healthy female named Ajabu came into the world.

Chief zookeeper Yvonne Vogels: "African elephants are pregnant for an average of 22 months. With this knowledge, we were expecting the calf sometime in January. However, the calf was born last Sunday evening at 20 months. So its arrival was a surprise for us, but we are extremely happy that Ajabu came into the world healthy!"

The birth was noticed by accident, as Vogels checked via webcam Sunday night to see if everything was okay with the herd. Vogels: "I regularly check via webcam to see if everything is going well with the herd. With the arrival of Mosi we keep an extra close eye on everything. On Sunday evening I looked at the webcam and thought I saw little Mosi a bit wobbly on his legs. Not much later I saw Mosi and the youngest addition in the picture: the unsteady little elephant just took her first steps!"

Slow start
Upon arrival at the barn, Yvonne noted that the little one needed a bit more time to get off to a good start. Birds: "The young elephant stood there somewhat uncomfortably and the female elephants from the herd watched it from a distance for a while. Fortunately, the calf is healthy, but she needed extra time in the first few days to connect. The animal care team encouraged bonding between herd and cub. The next few weeks remain exciting, but for now it all looks good!"

Contribution
Beekse Bergen contributes to protecting the African elephant in two ways through its European management program and through the support of Stichting Wildlife.

The management program ensures that a healthy reserve population is created of this species. Elephant bull Yambo came to Hilvarenbeek from Spain for the management program in 2021. Not much later, the caretakers saw the first mating.

More space
Through Stichting Wildlife, the conservation organization Save the Elephants supports the Northern Corridors Project. Birds: "This year we have already made a fruitful contribution to the healthy reserve population, but we also want to give something back to elephants in the wild. Africa's elephant population is doing better and better. However, Africa's population is also growing and this is causing elephant habitat to become fragmented."

The project will ensure that nature parks are connected by a corridor. Stichting Wildlife will raise 57,000 euros for this project. More than half of this amount will be raised with an adoption plan of the young elephants. The rest of the amount will be supplemented by other initiatives.

Want to know more about the elephant herd in Safaripark Beekse Bergen? Come here to know everything.

Stay up to date with the latest animal news and current events at Beekse Bergen? Then subscribe here in for the Beekse Bergen newsletter.