JERUSALEM: Israeli zoo celebrates first birthday of baby elephant conceived through artificial insemination

Baby elephant Gabby, Israel's first ever elephant baby produced through artificial insemination, celebrated his first birthday in a Jerusalem zoo on Friday (December 15), and was greeted by his father Emett who is living in England. Last years' birth of Gabby, now a healthy one-year-old elephant weighing half a tonne, was a breakthrough in efforts to conserve the endangered Asian elephant. Dozens of children and parents took part in the birthday celebration at the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo. They cheered when Gabby, his mother Tamar and two other members of the herd were eating fruits from a huge box laid down in the zoo yard by zoo workers. The celebration ended when the crowds, and the elephants, flew balloons in the air. "He became a star all over the world. He is so famous, he is so cute, he deserves this celebration. We are excited, everyone is excited here in Jerusalem," Shai Doron, Director General of the zoo, told Reuters Television. The celebration marked not only Gabby's birthday, but also the success in breeding the endangered specie of the Asian elephants, Doron said. "First birthday we hope for the future of Gabby and the herd here in Jerusalem but more important for the conservation of the Asian elephants in the wild life, in the wild itself and the breeding of the Asian elephant in captivity as genetic pool for the future," Doron said. To date, there are only approximately 38,000 to 51,000 wild Asian elephants in comparison to their counterparts the African elephants, of which there are some 600,000. Gabby's mother, Tamar, who went through a difficult and risky delivery last year, is the leader of a herd of five elephants living in the zoo in Jerusalem. Tamar was artificially inseminated three years ago in Jerusalem as part of a joint project between a group of German and Israeli specialists. The proud father is a male elephant named Emett which is based in Whipsnade Zoo in England. Animal keepers at the English zoo raised a toast for Gabby's birthday, as was recorded on a video footage sent for the celebration in Jerusalem. Female Asian elephants are capable of giving birth approximately every 4 to 6 years, about 7 calves in a lifetime. Babies are carried by their mothers for 19 to 22 months, almost 2 years, before birth. Asian elephants can live as long as 60 to 70 years.

ITN Source | December 17, 2006

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