Fifth elephant at Sedgwick County Zoo is pregnant
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – Baby elephants will soon be roaming around the Sedgwick County Zoo. On Wednesday, the zoo announced that a fifth elephant is pregnant.
The zoo says all of the herd’s females, except for Stephanie, are now expecting. Among the expectant mothers, Simunye, mother to Titan, a beloved male elephant at that zoo, brings valuable maternal experience to the upcoming births. Talia, Xolani, Arusi, and Zuberi are all pregnant with their first offspring.
“The female calves, if they have female calves born. They will stay with their mom for their whole lives. They will not be separated, and then as the bulls get to around 8 to 12 years of age, they might have to go to another facility and especially for genetic diversity for breeding,” said SCZ Elephant Manager Lauren Ripple.
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African elephants are pregnant for 22 months. The first birth is expected in early spring 2025.
“We do have a dedicated vet staff that is monitoring the health and welfare of all our elephants but our pregnancies. We’ll be doing extra things with the vet stuff like ultrasounds so hopefully soon we’ll be able to see one of our calves and share that with everybody,” said Ripple.
Staff will not be able to find out the gender of the calves until they are born.
The zoo adds that pregnancies hold a profound significance for the sustainability of African elephants in North America. These will be the first African elephants born in Kansas.
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