FAIRHOPE, Pa. - An elephant belonging to the Pittsburgh Zoo gave birth to a calf one month early Wednesday at the zoo's International Conservation Center's Maternal Care Barn in Somerset early Wednesday morning.
Seeni, one of the zoo's three elephants from Botswana, gave birth to a 184-pound calf a month ahead of schedule.
"Seeni wasn't expected to calve until the end of June, so to walk in in the morning and see this tiny little elephant attempting to stand on wobbly legs was a total surprise," said Willie Theison, elephant manager at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium and International Conservation Center.
The calf was 52 pounds below the median birth weight, and after a physical it was determined that Seeni was not producing milk and the calf needed to be bottle-fed.
Officials determined that for the best interest of the calf, they would transport her from Somerset County to the zoo in Pittsburgh.
"This is not a decision that you ever want to make, but the health and welfare of the calf was our top priority," said Theison. "We made the decision to transport the calf back to Pittsburgh, and introduce her to our herd here."
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