Baby Elephant Born at Sapporo Maruyama Zoo

Courtesy of Sapporo Maruyama Zoo

19-year-old Asian elephant Pearl and her newborn baby stand together at the Sapporo Maruyama Zoo in Sapporo. According to the zoo, this is the first time in Japan that an Asian elephant has been born through a more indirect style of breeding, in which zookeepers and veterinarians do not enter the animal’s living space but provide care through a protective barrier. The mother elephant came to the zoo from Myanmar in 2018, and her pregnancy was confirmed in 2022. Born at about 10:40 p.m. on Saturday, the baby elephant was estimated to be 90 centimeters long and weigh 90 kilograms.