YASMIN THE ELEPHANT is due to give birth any day now. Exciting!
She’s been given a special pillow made of sand in the Elephant House at Dublin Zoo to help make her more comfortable.
Anticipation is building ahead of her baby’s arrival, and the zoo says that other members of the herd are showing protective behaviour towards her.
They’re sleeping with their bodies touching hers, which is a positive sign and indicates that she’s approaching her delivery date. She’s getting around three-and-a-half hours sleep a night.
Paul O’Donoghue, assistant director at Dublin Zoo said:
Recently Yasmin has started withdrawing to the elephant house earlier in the day, reducing her movements and is increasingly restless at night.
The elephants are under constant watch with night vision cameras on the go 24/7 in the elephant habitat.
The animal care team have been busy preparing for the new arrival and are on a 24 hour ‘birth watch roster’ to ensure everything is in place for the big event.
Elephant pregnancies can last between 20 and 22 months and elephant calves typically weight around 12.5 stone when they are born, roughly the equivalent of an adult human.
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