Thursday, March 31, 2011

BABY ELEPHANT - LERATA

GREETINGS FROM SOUTH AFRICA!
TOBY here...

Hello there, every-furry-buddy!
We wanted to do something a bit different today, so we thought we'd share some wonderful news, all the way from our
NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS
here in South Africa.

On Monday, 21st March 2011,
a little baby elephant girl was born
at our National Zoological Gardens in Pretoria!
 She is the cutest thing since sliced bread and they have called her
"LERATA"

Lerata is managed by Carol Thobela and Graeme Ogilvie, and apparently she is doing well.  When she was born, she was too short to reach her Mum's teat, so the Vets made the desperate decision to pull her, 2 hours after birth.  She is fed a bottle of milk hourly, which she apparently devours.
The Vets are very happy with her progress and  so is the herd.  Mum too is fine and seems content with the plans that they have put in place.  Lerata is being closely monitored. 
"walking is a key component of development for any youngster, but more especially for little elephants who walk a lot in the wild. So here at the NZG the staff take care to give her as much opportunity to stretch those legs and even go for occasional runs. Here Graeme is walking Lerato our baby elephant, now seven days old!"

I just thought you'd enjoy hearing this exciting news.
Aint she cute?!
 We are sending our best wishes to Lerata and her keepers at the


"Sleep well,
feed well,
grow well,
 play well
and have a long, happy life!

We are very proud of you, little one and only wish you the best!

Sending lotsalicks to all my buddies around the world and wishing you a happy, fun-filled day.

22 comments:

The Heartbeats said...

GREAT! Now Mamma wants an elephant...

Wiggles,
Calhoun

mimi said...

Wow that is amazing. Isn't nature wonderful. That little elephant is too cute for words.
You will have to take pictures as she grows. It would be fun to see how big she gets.
Have a happy day
Mimi

WFT Nobby said...

Gosh Toby, that's a BABY elephant. She looks HUGE!!
Toodle pip!
Bertie (who is still getting to grips with zoology).

the booker man said...

ohmygoodness, toby, miss lerata is ADORABLE!! i have a question! can miss lerata drink her mama's milk once she's tall enough to reach, or will she always have to drink from a bottle now?

*woof*
the booker man

Mrs. JP said...

Awwww, ain't she cute! I'm so glad you posted about her. Seven days old and she's already pretty big. I wonder if they have growing pains like we do since they grow so fast. hmmm,,,that's something to think about.
p.s. - still not as cute as Toby

Scout 'n Freyja said...

I am SO in ♥ with that baby! As you know, elephants are one of my favorite animals - ever! To be totally honest, if given half the chance I'd kiss her right on the lips☺

houndstooth said...

Aww! What a cutie she is! One of the things we love about reading your blog is that we find out neat things that we wouldn't hear about in our little cornfield otherwise!

Bunny

pam said...

Hey Toby dat dere was fer sure a little tiny baby wee elephant. We would like an elephant...

Bobo and Meja

Molly the Airedale said...

What a cutie Lerata is! awwwwwwwwwwww

Love ya lots,
Maggie and Mitch

Anonymous said...

OMD she is the cutiest tinyest baby elephant that we have EVER seen! No wonder that she could not reach her Mom to feed!

We wish her the best!

woo woos, Tessa

Piappies World said...

Hello Toby!

That's so cute! We sure would love to see one! Hope you are enjoying your week!

Love,
Piappies Fudgie, Princess, Frappie, Mocha, Sugar, Wai-Pai, Wai-Max & Forgie

Suka said...

hey Toby,

What a pawsome post! Elephants are so magnificent, and that little gal is just precious! My human is all googlied-eyed now over her. We wish her well and hope she grows into a big, happy, and healthy elephant!

My human just watched a documentary on the elephant "Echo." Echo had birthed a son that was born too big and could not use his front legs properly and thus could not reach Echo's teats to drink. But with much patience and love from Echo and one of Echo's daughters, after a couple of days he finally learned how to stand up and was then able to drink. The Animal Kingdom is truly amazing!

Suka

Angel Ginger Jasper said...

What a cutey and thankfully they decided to hand rear so she will flurish. Just gorgeous.. Hugs GJ xx

NanaNor's said...

Hi Toby, Thanks for sharing this adorable baby with us. Got to say though you were much cuter!
Hugs to you today.
Noreen & Reggie-dog

Amber-Mae said...

Oh WOW, Lerata is really small but real cute! I think she's shorter than a Great Dane! I hope she lives a long & happy life too. Great post! Thank you for sharing this with us dear Toby.

Jake of Florida said...

Have you seen this?
http://www.dumpert.nl/mediabase/656611/d1dfcfee/live_olifant_geboorte_tv.htm

The video is of an elephant berth (oops,I typed berth instead of birth, that tells you what my profession is!)and the most amazing look at the mother's instincts.


xxx Joan

sprinkles said...

Elephants are one of my favorite animals so thank you for sharing this! I'll be heading to our local zoo tomorrow but we don't have any elephants, sadly. :(

I hope Larata has a long and happy life.

KB said...

Thank you so much for sharing that story. Lerata is adorable. Will they be able to return her to her mom when she's taller?

I've been having terrible computer and internet connection issues that aren't over yet. However, I hope to stay abreast of your news!

I'm glad that you caught the rat, even if the dogs didn't do it for you! And, I hope that the preparations for Annie are going smoothly. Toby is a natural star so I'm sure that they are.

Tweedles -- that's me said...

Thank you for sharing this story of love... the story of Lerata.
Elephant stories are always so close to our heart for some reason,,, and this one was a "must " for us to read.
We saw a show once where baby elephants were at an orphanage, and they wore blankys at nite.
We will keep Lereta in our hearts, and keep paws crossed for her and others,, that we do not know about.
Bless them all
love
tweedles

LailaSmith01 said...

Oh she's so cute...She also look so sweet, I like her story anyway...Great post!!!


dog pens

Milo and Alfie Marshall said...

Oh she is beautiful. mom is an ele-friend for life: that means she loves elephants and supports them.

Berts Blog said...

Toby, that was a great post. WE love to learn and hear such great stories clear across the world. I love seeing humans make that extra effort in behalf of us fourlegged species. Thanks for sharing. I wanna come to Africa one day but Vickie says that is not going to happen so I am gonna have to get all my joys from reading your blog every week.
Love
Bert