Have you been to Reid Park Zoo lately and noticed the mama elephant is pregnant? Well, if you like elephants and their cool adaptations, then read on!

 “The mother elephant (Samba) will give birth any day now,” says zookeeper Cassandra Dodds. The zookeepers know when the mother will give birth by doing urine tests. Elephants have the longest pregnancies. They are pregnant for 22 months!

Samba will be in the barn when she has her baby. Zookeepers put sand on the floor because elephants stand up when birthing so the baby will tumble to the soft ground. A normal size baby elephant will be 200–300 pounds. Siblings will protect and guard the baby elephant. They learn how to act like a mother elephant for when they have their own babies. Samba will nurse her baby for about 3–5 years.

According to zookeeper Damian, “You should come to the zoo when you hear the baby elephant has been born.”

Zookeepers train elephants once or twice a day. The elephants’ special treats are watermelon, pumpkin and squash. Elephants have four sets of teeth and walk on their tip toes. Elephants have no bones, only muscles, in their trunks, so if you looked at elephant bones you would think of something other than an elephant.

We need to protect elephants because they are being killed for their ivory tusks. Some elephants are also harmed because they walk through people’s neighborhoods in Africa to find water.

UPDATE: Reid Park Zoo in Tucson, Arizona is excited to announce that Semba, the Zoo’s African elephant matriarch, gave birth to a 265 pound calf at 3:31 a.m. on Friday, March 8, 2024. The calf, whose sex has not yet been determined, is standing, sticking close to mom, and nursing enthusiastically.

PHOTO: Reid Park Zoo