Third African elephant calf born: 'Everything is falling into place'

African elephant Punda, after a 22-month gestation, has become the mother of a healthy elephant calf. This is the third calf born at the Safaripark in four months. Never before in a European zoo have three African elephants been born in a short period of time.

The young elephant is a girl and has been named Tendai. Head zookeeper Yvonne Vogels says, "Everything is falling into place! Mosi means first-born: the first of the three calves. Ajabu stands for 'radiant'. Wonderful to see how the premature, because she was born two months early, has now strengthened and how we see this reflected in her character. And then there is now Tendai, which means grateful. Grateful for all the healthy happiness in the herd. We are absolutely over the moon!"

For several days, the animal caretakers of the African elephants were on alert for the arrival of the calf. Birds: "Wednesday we saw a change in the blood levels and basically the calf would then come into the world within 48 hours." For five nights, the animal caretakers watched the webcam, taking turns and every hour. "Regularly we thought the moment was there. Sunday night, Punda was very restless. The caretakers and I decided to spend the night in a room next to the elephant enclosure. Monday morning, Feb. 19, at 9:10 a.m., the little one came into the world" said Vogels

To allow mother and daughter to recover in peace, the elephant stable will be open on a limited basis for the next few days.

Matriarch
Punda, at 32 years old, is the matriarch of the elephant herd at Safaripark Beekse Bergen. It means that as the oldest of the herd, she plays an important role within the elephant family. When the two previous calves were born, her essential role was visible: she taught her daughters how to care for their young calves.

Punda arrived at Safaripark with her offspring in 2015 as part of the management program. The management program ensures a healthy reserve population of this species. Elephant bull Yambo came to Beekse Bergen from Spain in 2021 to make his contribution. And with success, because not much later the animal keepers saw the first mating.

More space
Beekse Bergen, through Stichting Wildlife, is supporting the organization Save the Elephants with the Northern Corridors Project. The project will ensure that wildlife parks in Kenya are connected to each other with corridors. A corridor is a safe passage for wild animals, such as elephants. The corridors are needed because Africa's population is growing and with it, elephant habitat is becoming fragmented, resulting in human-animal conflicts.

The goal is to fund one corridor: this requires 60,000 euros. 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.

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