Melbourne Zoo Melbourne Zoo News 2022

"Zoos Victoria has announced the birth of a healthy Asian elephant calf at Melbourne Zoo. Mother Dokkoon gave birth in the early hours of this morning. The calf's sex is yet to be determined and will be named over the coming weeks." - 7 NEWS
7NEWS Melbourne on Instagram: "JUST IN: Zoos Victoria has announced the birth of a healthy Asian elephant calf at Melbourne Zoo. Mother Dokkoon gave birth in the early hours of this morning. The calf's sex is yet to be determined and will be named over the coming weeks. 7NEWS at 6pm. @zoosvictoria #7NEWS"

Exciting times for the zoo! Now we wait for the hopefully successful births of the calves of Mali and Num-Oi.

 

Zoos Vic have confirmed it’s a female.

 

Elephant calf makes public debut; voting open on name:

Baby elephant walks out at Melbourne Zoo

Zoos Victoria's 350,000 members will vote on a name for the new calf, with three options as suggested by the Royal Thai Embassy put to them.

Aiyara - meaning elephant - a symbol for loyalty, friendliness, good fortune, and happiness.

Chaiyo - meaning cheers - to celebrate joyful occasions.

Roi-yim - meaning smile, and representing Thailand as the "Land of Smiles".

Votes close for members on Tuesday evening and the winning name will be announced next week.

 

Elephant Update:

Very exciting news; first time mum Mali has gone into labour. Fingers crossed for a healthy calf.

Zoos Victoria on Instagram: "First-time mum-to-be, Mali, is now in the early stages of labour so she will be having some quiet time away from public view with the support of her mother, Dokkoon, who is also mother to Melbourne Zoo’s week-old calf. While we all await the news of a second elephant calf, unfortunately, this means our Zoo Members and visitors will not be able to see the first-born elephant calf for the time being. We thank you for your understanding while we allow privacy and care for Mali and the herd during this time. We will continue to provide updates via Zoos Victoria's website and social media - stay tuned! Visual description: An Asian Elephant has her trunk raised above her head. She is standing on yellow sand and her mouth is open."

 

Wow fantastic! Luk Chai got things done quick!
I wonder if there is an element of birth synchronisation present here I.e. birth related pheromones and Mali's body identifying it as a safe time to go into labour.

Also how long can labour last?

 

I was thinking the same thing, especially as Mali was predicted to give birth next month, so it's likely hormones may have led to this calf being delivered earlier than predicted.

Labour can last up to a day (so 24 hours), but is generally very short (say three or four hours). Mali went into labour this morning which is a little unusual as females usually give birth overnight (when it's safest); so I presume Mali may be in labour a little longer than usual.

 

Labour usually lasts three or four hours to three days. The regional record is Porntip’s labour that went on for 10 days - though that was statistically unusually and at one point labour even stalled - with every indication the calf would then be stillborn.

I’m hopeful Mali will deliver within the next 24 hours - but time will tell.

 

That's a very good point! I wonder if Num Oi's birth will happen sooner than expected too.

 

Melbourne Zoo have stated she’s due in January 2023, but Mali was due December/January 2023 and gave birth a month early, so who knows.

Gestation in this species is typically 20-23 months, but the record is 25 months (Chester Zoo). I doubt we’ll see Num Oi giving birth in April, but my point is gestation is highly variable and Num Oi could indeed deliver in the next few weeks.

 

Mali has given birth to a healthy male calf!
"Asian Elephant and first-time mum, Mali, gave birth to a healthy male calf overnight in the barn at Melbourne Zoo."

 

Congratulations to all the team at Melbourne Zoo wonderful news!

 

Elephant Update:

Dokkoon's calf has been named Aiyara pronounced 'eye-are-a' meaning elephant, a symbol of loyalty, friendliness, good fortune and happiness as expected.

Voting options have also been opened for Mali's male calf; they're Mai Pai ( meaning bamboo), Roi Yim (meaning cheers and smile) and Chaiyo (meaning smile).

Melbourne's keepers must really like those last two names using them again this time for Mali's calf.

The calves are still not on display but hopefully will be soon in time for the summer school holidays.

 

Roi Yim would suit Num Oi's calf best and
Mai Pai sounds way to similar to Man Jai.
Imo Chaiyo is a poor best as it honours his father's name and also sounds more masculine then the other two. We have to think how 'Mai Pai' will sound when he's 5 tons with 2 meter long tusks.

 

Chaiyo is probably the most appealing to the public and does suit a bull elephant.

Mai Pai is a very feminine name imo, and also reminds me a lot of 'Mai Thai' a cow over in the US.

Melbourne recycled the previous losing names to Mali's calf, so if Roi Yim loses we'll be able to get a chance to vote that name for Num Oi's calf which will *hopefully* be a girl.

 

I think rather than recycling the rejects from the first naming competition, they should have have had some original names up their sleeve for Mali’s calf.

The only original addition to this naming competition is Mai Pai (which is too feminine); and I agree Roi-yim would be more suited to Num Oi’s calf (and a female).

I guess we can look forward to seeing the two rejects from this comp again in January, when voting opens on the third calf’s name.

 

Mali’s calf has been named Roi-Yim:

1.0 Roi-Yim (25/11/2022) Luk Chai x Mali

The name means ‘smile’ in Thai. It’s a great name and easily the best of the three - even if we can all agree it would have been better suited to Num Oi’s calf.

I look forward to seeing Chaiyo and Mai Pai again in January when they run the third naming competition.

 

Elephant calves now on display:

Following their birth last month, the elephant calves (Aiyara and Roi-Yim) are now on display alongisde their mothers and the rest of the matriarchal herd.

It’s great to see them all together as a herd, while we await Num Oi’s impending birth.

Check out the gallery for some fantastic photos by @marmolady of the two calves.

 

@marmolady Wonderful photos did you take any of the bull on the day?

 

I did take a photograph of Luk Chai, which I can upload, but none of Man Jai.

 

@marmolady Thank you.