Video: Baby African elephant born at Beekse Bergen

“In peace and quiet and under the watchful eye of the other ladies of the group, African elephant Pina-Nessi gave birth to her first calf after a 22-month gestation,” safari park Beekse Bergen announced on Monday. The female calf, named Mosi, was born on Saturday. Both mother and daughter are doing well.

Mosi is Pina-Nessi’s first calf, and her name reflects that, meaning “firstborn.” The safari park expects the arrival of two more African elephant calves early next year – Pina Nessi’s sister Bongi, and their mother Punda are also pregnant.

“The birth couldn’t have gone better. It was really how we had hoped,” said head animal caretaker Yvonne Vogels. “Not only are the calf and Pina-Nessi doing extremely well, but the other elephants in the group are also behaving in an exemplary manner. Now, we’ll be working hard to ensure that the little one grows up as well as possible and that the other two calves are born just as successfully as little Mosi.”

In the wild, African elephants face many threats. The world’s largest land animals are killed for their ivory and also clash with farmers – a herd of elephants can trample a crop without even noticing.

“We have been working very hard for 25 years to make a fruitful contribution to the European management program of this beautiful species. It has not gone without a hitch in those years, so as a team, we are completely over the moon that things have gone well!” Vogels said about Mosi’s birth.