Baby Asian elephant "Priya" debuts at Saint Louis Zoo

The Saint Louis Zoo's Asian elephant calf, Priya (pronounced "Pree-yah"), is meeting her St. Louis family for the first time! Born April 26, 2013, the calf made her public debut with mother Ellie and sister Maliha on May 22, 2013. For more info, visit http://www.stlzoo.org.

During her first days of life, she met her mother, aunties and older sisters who have warmly welcomed her into the family. The elephant care team has been gradually introducing her to the habitats at River's Edge.

"An experienced mother and grandmother, Ellie was, of course, very nurturing, caring for her newborn baby from the very beginning," said Fischer. "Both Ellie and Priya are doing well."

This is Ellie's third baby and the fourth for the baby's father Raja, the first elephant ever born at the Saint Louis Zoo. Now, at age 20, he has his own three-generation family, with daughter Maliha, born on August 2, 2006; Jade, born February 25, 2007; and Kenzi, born on June 24, 2011.

Priya's name was chosen through a Name the Baby Elephant poll with the winner announced on May 6; 53,692 votes submitted through multiple channels to the Saint Louis Zoo for its Name the Baby Elephant poll. The Zoo's elephant care team selected five favorite female names—Cai, Harper, Priya, Violet and Willow—and invited the public to vote for their favorites. Priya won with 15,777 (29.4 percent) of the total votes cast.

Asian Elephants Are Critically Endangered

The Saint Louis Zoo has been actively involved with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Species Survival Plan for Asian elephants. "Because Asian elephants are so endangered in the wild, the birth of this elephant is important to the conservation work we do with other North American zoos," says Dr. Jeffrey P. Bonner, Dana Brown President & CEO of the Saint Louis Zoo. "Together AZA-accredited zoos cooperatively manage the breeding of Asian elephants to maintain healthy populations that are as genetically diverse and as demographically stable as possible.

"There are only between 35,000 and 50,000 Asian elephants left in the wild, and they are facing extinction. Given the shrinking population of Asian elephants, the Saint Louis Zoo shares a common vision with other professional elephant conservation organizations and with our elephant care colleagues—a vision that includes elephants in the world's future forever, both in zoos and in the wild."

In addition to participating in the AZA Species Survival Plan, the Zoo supports the welfare and conservation of Asian elephants in Sumatra and other countries in Asia through the International Elephant Foundation, as well as the conservation of African elephants in Kenya and Mali.

Also, with Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus (EEHV) a common health issue for elephants both in the care of zoos and in the wild, the Saint Louis Zoo has been instrumental in pursuing the latest EEHV detection and testing protocols. For several years, the Zoo has joined other North American elephant care facilities in actively supporting an EEHV research effort. The International Elephant Foundation is facilitating this study to find a cure.