The Madrid Zoo Aquarium celebrated on Thursday on its social networks the birth of a Sumatran Asian elephant calf, one of the most threatened elephant subspecies on the planet. The male, weighing between 80 and 90 kilos, was born on Wednesday shortly after two in the afternoon following a labor of barely twenty minutes and is in good health, according to the zoo. The birth represents a new boost to the European conservation program of a species classified as critically endangered.
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The mother, Cynthia, began labor after more than 21 months of gestation, the longest pregnancy period of any land mammal. Barely half an hour after birth, the calf was already able to stand up and take its first steps alongside her. The caretakers highlight that the female’s experience was key during the first hours of the little one’s life, whom she remained very attentive to and protected from the first moment. The birth was also marked by the behavior of the rest of the family group. The other females surrounded the mother during labor and stayed with the newborn in its first minutes of life, a common behavior among elephants, which live in matriarchal societies and cooperate in caring for the calves.
The veterinarian of the Madrid Zoo Aquarium, Eva Martínez, explained that the team had been monitoring Cynthia’s progress for weeks through hormonal controls that already indicated the proximity of labor. “The mother’s care is excellent and the behavior of the family group is exemplary,” she said. However, she specified that specialists will maintain close surveillance over the animal’s development in the coming weeks to ensure its growth proceeds normally.
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The Madrid Zoo Aquarium houses the only Sumatran Asian elephant specimens in Europe integrated into the European Endangered Species Programme (EEP), coordinated by the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA). These programs seek to maintain genetically viable populations of threatened species and contribute to their long-term conservation. The arrival of this calf is especially significant due to the delicate situation of the subspecies in the wild. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Sumatran elephant has lost nearly 69% of its habitat in the last three decades as a result of deforestation, agricultural expansion, and fragmentation of Indonesia’s tropical forests.
The global population of Asian elephants is estimated at about 52,000 individuals, although the Sumatran subspecies is the most threatened of the three existing. It also shares the same threats as other large mammals on the Indonesian island, such as the orangutan, the tiger, and the Sumatran rhinoceros, all severely affected by habitat loss. For now, the new calf will remain under veterinary observation alongside its mother. The Madrid Zoo has explained that it will decide on its inclusion in the visitor route based on its development and the needs for rest and adaptation during its first weeks of life.