BELGIUM: Baby elephant Kai-Mook is only two day old and she is already a star among elephant fans who were able to watch her birth live on internet

Record ID: 185059

  • Title: BELGIUM: Baby elephant Kai-Mook is only two day old and she is already a star among elephant fans who were able to watch her birth live on internet
  • Date: 20th May 2009
  • Summary: ANTWERPEN, BELGIUM (MAY 19, 2009) (REUTERS) METAL CURTAIN OF THE DOORS OF THE ELEPHANTS' ENCLOSURE BEING RAISED BABY ELEPHANT KAI-MOOK COMING OUT, PRECEDED BY SISTER MAY TAGU. MOTHER PHYO PHYO AND AUNT YU YU YIN FOLLOWING BABY ELEPHANT FIRST STEPS IN THE OPEN
  • Embargoed: 4th June 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Belgium
  • Country: Belgium
  • Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA9SU9Y53WM945ZFVTU3X0DE4AJ
  • Story Text: Antwerp zoo proudly presented on Wednesday (May 19) Kai-Mook (pronounce Ka-ee-Mook), a baby elephant whose birth was recorded by nine webcams and transmitted live onto internet.
    The zoo said it was the first time an elephant's birth was broadcast live on internet and its website recorded 1.2 million hits.
    The initiative was such a success the zoo had to install extra computer servers to deal with the influx of visitors. The zoo said it received messages from as far as Australia, Surinam or South Africa.
    So was already a star when she made her first step in the open, Kay-Mook.
    Elephant keeper Tony Verhulst said the zoo wanted to educate people and their children.
    ''I think nobody has ever seen the birth of an elephant live. And it's also for the people. You get... you have to get the people involved otherwise they never gonna learn, they they they think, ok, the baby is coming from the, from the stork, like some kids they say, 'oh, the milk is not coming from the cow but from a bottle, so I think it's very important to get people children to learn about the elephants and this is a good way,'' Verhulst said.
    Mother Phyo Phyo (pronounce Pio-Pio) went into labour on Friday evening (May 15). It took her hours about 38 hours to deliver a healthy female baby elephant weighting around 100 kilograms.
    Phyo Phyo had been pregnant for 22 months -- 645 days to be exact -- and the birth had been expected anytime between March and May.
    Kai-Mook's father, Alexander, is usually living in a zoo in Amersfoort, in the Netherlands. Three years ago, Alexander was invited to spend six months at Antwerp zoo in the hope he would impregnate Phyo Phyo or any of the two other females elephants kept there.
    Elephants mate once every two months on average, doctor Linda Van Elsacker, the director of research and development at Antwerpen zoo, explained. It is a challenge to help elephants pro-create as female elephants are interested in mating for one week over a two-month period, Van Elsacker said. Van Elsacker said the fertility rate in zoos can be compared at that among elephants living in the wild, although the survival rate is better.
    Van Elsacker said one in three elephant birth results in death and choosing to broadcast the event live on internet was a gamble.
    ''It was quite a gamble to broadcast this birth on internet because we know from the statistics of the captive births and survival rates that one out of three birth results in a, in a, in a not surviving baby. So this was the risk that we were taking, that we were building up the excitement, building up the expectations and that we we had this risk of not surviving the actual birth or the first day after birth,'' Van Elsacker said, adding one of the motto among zookeepers was 'No guts, no glory !'.
    Kai-Mook showed all the signs of a healthy baby elephant: she drinks enough milk and is well accepted within the group, zoo workers said.
    Among the crowd, young and elderly rejoiced.
    Twelve-year-old Truss Deckx said she tried to stay awake throughout the event.
    ''I have been staying up for two nights to see the elephant. I slept a bit but not much!'' Truus Deckx (pronounce Troos Dex) said, adding other elephants were in front of the camera hiding some details of the delivery.
    In fact, other elephants were protecting the new-born by circling around it. The zoo workers said her half sister Yu Yu Yin was quite jealous at first.
    Myriam Grootjans (pronounce Grotjans), a 72-year-old elephant fan, was overjoyed. Wearying a tee-shirt, a necklace and a scarf with elephant motives, she said she loved elephants since her childhood, when her parents took her to the circus.
    ''Today, I am the happiest person, because we could finally see her for real, and she is healthy, she is well accepted by the group, and the matriarch Dumbo seems very happy. So I am over happy!'' Grootjans said.
    The birth of Kai-Mook is also the opportunity for the zoo to launch a fundraising campaign to help protect elephants in South India.
    Kai-Mook is an Asian elephant, who are a bit smaller than their African cousins.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register