Ringling's 22nd baby elephant born

RINGLING BROS. AND BARNUM & BAILEY® PROUDLY ANNOUNCES ITS FIRST ELEPHANT CALF BORN FROM ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION

It’s A Boy! The 22nd Calf Born into the Ringling Bros.® Conservation and Breeding Program
(January 27, 2009 -Vienna, VA) – The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation® proudly announces the birth of a healthy male Asian elephant – marking the twenty-second birth in what has proven to be the most successful Asian elephant breeding program in the Western Hemisphere. Most importantly, this is the first calf in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey assisted reproduction program born as a result of artificial insemination (AI). Born on Jan. 19, the inaugural eve of the 44th President of the United States at 11:50 p.m. and weighing 250 pounds, the calf has been named Barack, This calf is a first for fourteen-year-old Bonnie, who also was born at the Ringling Bros. Center for Elephant Conservation, and until recently was performing with The Greatest Show On Earth®. Two male elephant donors from the Ringling Bros. herd contributed to the AI procedure and Ringling Bros. veterinarians will soon be taking blood samples to determine which donor is the calf’s father. As with each calf born at Ringling Bros., Barack will have a team of veterinarians and elephant husbandry specialists that will watch over and care for him as he grows and develops.

“The reality is that the worldwide elephant population is declining, which means the overall mortality rate is increasing and that is a heart breaking fact. That is why at Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey practical solutions that help to care for and to save these magnificent animals are critical,” says Kenneth Feld, Founder of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation. “Our priority at Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey is to invest in and support health and conservation programs for captive populations that in the future may help save range country populations. We are thrilled that Bonnie and now Barack are living tributes to our commitment at Ringling Bros.”

Barack is only the fourth elephant to be born in the United States from artificial insemination (AI). The first calf born from an AI was in 1999 at Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield, Missouri under the watch of Dr. Dennis Schmitt, Chair of Veterinary Care and Director of Research for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey. AI procedures are considered a viable option in conservation programs where species like the Asian elephant are endangered. The AI procedure is meant to complement natural breeding efforts not replace them. It also helps to manage and increase the gene pool population without the logistics of relocating and introducing a male elephant (solitary by nature) to an established herd of female elephants.

Read more at http://www.elephantcenter.com/press/ContentDisplay.aspx?id=17472