24-hour vigil for miracle Aussie elephant

24-hour vigil for miracle Aussie elephant

www.calgaryherald.com

Staff at Taronga Zoo said the baby elephant, nicknamed for his unsteady gait, was growing stronger and feeding himself but cautioned he was "not out of the woods yet".

"This little calf has been through a incredibly tough time," zoo director Cameron Kerr told reporters Thursday.

"There is no record anywhere else in the world -- of the 10,000 births, there is no recording -- of a labour that has gone this long.

"There is no recording of a calf being absolutely still for several days like this.

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
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[edit on 2010/3/11 by Aeons]

You are wondering why this is on this board - nice story but not appropriate for ATS right?

The baby elephant is FURRY. It has hair on its head and its body.

Asian elephants are not furry.

However, a close extinct relative was. The Mammoth. From which the asian elephant split during the Pliocene.

This baby has a very furry face, and fur all over.

I tried to find any records of hairy asian elephants. None.

www.calgaryherald.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Although elephants are generally considered hairless animals, both African and Asian elephants are born with thick hair. The elephant fetus is covered with 'Lanugo', a mass of long, downy hair, however, most of this is shed before the elephant is actually born. The hair on an elephant calf sheds more as the elephant calf grows. The hair is not designed to provide warmth for the elephant, however, it does allow the elephant to sense the closeness of objects the hair touches.

www.animalcorner.co.uk...

Just saying

Mod Note: External Source Tags – Please Review This Link.

[edit on Sun Mar 14 2010 by Jbird]

And I do hope the little one makes it.
Quite an ordeal it's been through, the world could use more stories of survivors these days. Thanks for sharing the story.

recycled

reply to post by recycled


Humans often have Lanugo as well. However, this isn't a light hair. This is like you saw your newborn and they came out looking like a monkey.