{"id":102357,"date":"2025-10-24T22:45:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T22:45:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/102357\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T22:45:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T22:45:09","slug":"columbus-zoo-welcomes-second-baby-asian-elephant-this-year-marking-a-historic-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/102357\/","title":{"rendered":"Columbus Zoo Welcomes Second Baby Asian Elephant This Year, Marking a Historic First"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEED TO KNOW<\/p>\n

The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium announced the birth of its second baby Asian elephant this year<\/p>\n

The baby, a boy, was born to his 38-year-old mom, Phoebe, and is the second new addition to the herd after baby Rita Jean was born over the summer<\/p>\n

This is the first time in the zoo’s history that two Asian elephants have been born in the same year.<\/p>\n

The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium<\/a> is celebrating the birth of its second Asian elephant this year, marking a historic first for the organization.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Oct. 23, the zoo announced in a press release<\/a> that 38-year-old Asian elephant Phoebe had given birth to a male calf at 10:41 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 21. The baby weighed in at 222 pounds and was born after a two-year pregnancy.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the team watched, the newborn stirred, pushed himself up on wobbly legs, and took his first step,\u201d the release read. \u201cPhoebe stood steady and protective beside him, just as she has with each of her previous calves. It was a moment of instinct, strength, and quiet triumph.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Amanda<\/p>\n

Amanda Carberry\/Columbus Zoo and Aquarium<\/p>\n

Phoebe with her newborn son<\/p>\n

The new calf joins a small herd in the Asia Quest region, per the outlet. The herd includes Phoebe’s 3-year-old son Frankie.<\/p>\n

Phoebe’s latest was fathered by Sabu, an elephant located at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, who previously had a temporary stay in Columbus.<\/p>\n

Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/p>\n

\"Amanda<\/p>\n

Amanda Carberry\/Columbus Zoo and Aquarium<\/p>\n

The newborn Asian elephant at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pairing was recommended through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums\u2019 Species Survival Plan, a program that ensures healthy, genetically diverse populations of threatened and endangered species in professional care,\u201d the release read.<\/p>\n

The new calf will remain with his mother for bonding time before being slowly introduced to other herd members. Soon after that introduction, members of the public will be able to meet the zoo’s newest addition.<\/p>\n

Back in July, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium welcomed another baby Asian elephant<\/a> \u2014 Rita Jean.<\/p>\n

The female calf was born to Sabu and 16-year-old Sundara, a.k.a. \u201cSunny,” following 22 months of pregnancy.<\/p>\n

\"Amanda<\/p>\n

Amanda Carberry\/Columbus Zoo and Aquarium<\/p>\n

Phoebe and her newborn baby<\/p>\n

The births mark \u201cthe first time in the Zoo\u2019s near 100-year history that two elephant calves have been born in the same year,\u201d according to the release.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe trumpeting of two calves in one year is music to our ears and a win for Asian elephant conservation,\u201d said Tom Schmid, president and CEO of the Columbus Zoo and The Wilds, said in a statement. \u201cThanks to years of planning with zoo partners, Phoebe and her baby boy are doing well, and we can\u2019t wait to share this joy with our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phoebe’s son will be introduced to the public at a later date. Until then, the zoo will provide updates, including information about the young elephant’s name.<\/p>\n

Read the original article on People<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEED TO KNOW The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium announced the birth of its second baby Asian elephant this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":102358,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[63297,53183,11003,63296,61,60,82,263,19431],"class_list":{"0":"post-102357","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-aquarium-phoebe","9":"tag-asian-elephant","10":"tag-columbus","11":"tag-columbus-zoo-and-aquarium","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-science","15":"tag-wildlife","16":"tag-zoo"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102357\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}