CCTV cameras at Chester Zoo have caught amazing footage of the birth of a baby elephant.
The female youngster was on her feet within three minutes of being born at 14:38 on Thursday 20 August and was welcomed into the group by mum Thi Hi Way and four other members of the zoo’s Hi Way family of Asian elephants. 

Keepers at the Zoo  say Thi, 34, delivered her latest offspring ‘very smoothly’ following a 22-month gestation. 

Thi has had several calves before and, within the zoo’s herd, is also mum to Sithami (18), grandmother to Sundara (11) and Bala (2) and great grandmother to Hari (3).

Andy Mckenzie, team manager of elephants at Chester Zoo, said:

“We are able to watch the elephants remotely from home on our CCTV cameras so we can track the progress of the labour without disturbing the herd. The birth of a new elephant is a real family occasion and, as the labour progresses, all of the family unit really come together. They all knew that something was going to happen, especially the older elephants that have seen it all before.”
Adding that Thi is an experienced mum and the birth went very smoothly indeed.

“As soon as the calf was born onto the soft sand, the family started to lean down to have a look and a sniff and also gave her a gentle kick to stimulate her. Not long after, she was up and standing on her feet.”
In February, the zoo sent 12 members of staff to Assam in India to work on a zoo project which is helping protect wild elephants and the people who live with them. The zoo now hopes that their new calf can help raise more awareness of the species, listed as endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the threats they are under in the wild.

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