{"id":281821,"date":"2026-02-05T09:02:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T09:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/281821\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T09:02:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T09:02:09","slug":"us-zoo-celebrates-first-asian-elephant-birth-in-over-two-decades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/281821\/","title":{"rendered":"US Zoo Celebrates First Asian Elephant Birth in over Two Decades"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> (<a style=\"color:black\" href=\"https:\/\/menafn.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">MENAFN<\/a>) The Smithsonian\u2019s National Zoo in Washington, D.C., has welcomed its first Asian elephant calf in nearly a quarter-century, with the birth of a 308-pound (140-kilogram) female calf, according to reports.<\/p>\n<p>The newborn arrived at 1:15 a.m. local time on Monday, born to 12-year-old mother Nhi Linh and 44-year-old father Spike.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter waiting nearly 25 years for an Asian elephant calf, this birth fills us with profound joy,\u201d said Brandie Smith, director of the National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.<\/p>\n<p>Officials highlighted the significance of the birth for conservation efforts, noting that both Nhi Linh and Spike carry rare genetic lineages that could help strengthen the genetic diversity of Asian elephants in captivity.<\/p>\n<p>Nhi Linh\u2019s pregnancy lasted 21 months, which falls within the species\u2019 typical 18\u201322 month gestation period. While Spike has fathered three calves previously, this is Nhi Linh\u2019s first offspring and the first of Spike\u2019s to survive.<\/p>\n<p>The calf will remain behind the scenes for approximately a month to bond with her mother before being introduced to visitors.<\/p>\n<p>To celebrate the birth, the zoo is allowing the public to vote for the calf\u2019s name by donating $5 per vote. The name receiving the most donations will be selected. The options\u2014Linh Mai, Thao Nhi, Tu Anh, and Tuyet\u2014are all of Vietnamese origin, honoring Nhi Linh\u2019s heritage.<\/p>\n<p><a style=\"color:black\" href=\"https:\/\/menafn.com\/1110694921\/US-Zoo-Celebrates-First-Asian-Elephant-Birth-in-over-Two-Decades\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><\/p>\n<p>MENAFN04022026000045017281ID1110694921<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<p>  <\/p>\n<p> Legal Disclaimer:<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/menafn.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">MENAFN<\/a> provides the<br \/>\n              information \u201cas is\u201d without warranty of any kind. We do not accept<br \/>\n              any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images,<br \/>\n              videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information<br \/>\n              contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright<br \/>\n              issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(MENAFN) The Smithsonian\u2019s National Zoo in Washington, D.C., has welcomed its first Asian elephant calf in nearly a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":281822,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[61,60,82,263],"class_list":["post-281821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281821","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=281821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/281822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}