He’s heavy and he’s leggy, he’s the new elephant calf at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo – kicking off the spring season at the Bedfordshire zoo – and he has been named Crooked.
The lanky youngster, who is now 12 days old, is amusing his keepers by squeezing under new mum Karishma to reach his milk, but he is already showing a determined streak.
The baby Asian elephant was given his nickname because of a bend in his tail. The youngster is more than 3ft tall and weighs a healthy 124kg (almost 20 stone).
First-time mother Karishma, age 12, wowed her keepers with her calmness at the overnight birth, which they watched on monitors from a safe distance away. Deputy team leader Andy Durham, who has known Karishma since she was a baby, said: “She surprised us all and was excellent from the word ‘go’. When the calf first came out she just seemed amazed to have her own baby. She’s fantastic with it.”
Crooked has spent his early days getting to know the other elephants in the herd, including half sister Donna who is nine-months-old, while enjoying the Spring sunshine in the seven-acre elephant paddock.
