Sometimes, nature can be cruel. That was clearly displayed when a baby elephant was rejected by its mother at the Smithsonian National Zoo. However, the story didn’t stay sad for too long —thank goodness. Shortly after the calf was rejected, something miraculous happened. The baby elephant formed a new bond with another elephant at the zoo.
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A Baby Elephant Is Rejected By Its Mother
It sounds like such a harsh thing; I cannot fathom how difficult it was to watch. Yet zookeepers at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo had to witness the tumultuous relationship between this young calf and its mother.
USA Today confirmed that they had received an email correspondence from the zoo. In that email, the zoo explained how and why this baby elephant was rejected by its mother. Linh Mai — which means spirit blossom— ” is the zoo’s first calf in nearly 25 years.” While all of the zoo workers were excited by this birth, the elephant’s mother seemed to have missed the memo.
Nhi Linh struggled immensely to bond with her baby. Tony Barthel, the zoo’s director of animal care, wrote a blog post on the matter. In the post, he explained that the mother had never experienced a birth or interacted with a calf before. Perhaps that is why she acted so coldly.
Nhi Linh didn’t merely reject her calf; she acted violently towards it. The outlet shared that she “swung her trunk, kicked her feet, and threw hay” at the baby elephant. Although she did respond whenever the calf cried, Barthel shared that she would occasionally “show her discomfort by displaying frustration and aggression towards her calf.”
Baby Elephant Forms A New Bond
Despite being rejected by its mother, this baby elephant formed a new bond with a different elephant. Bozie, a dominant female in the herd, has decided to act as the calf’s caretaker. USA Today shared that she acts as the baby’s guardian whenever its mother becomes aggressive.
“In instances where the mother acts aggressively, the elephant nudges her with her foot, tries to push her back, or slaps her tail on her own leg.” So far, Bozie’s actions have successfully quieted all acts of aggression towards the calf.
Additionally, the baby elephant formed a bond with another elephant in the group, Â Swarna. Â Swarna follows Linh Mai around as she explores the enclosure. She is now teaching the young elephant how to socialize and communicate with others. Zoo keepers are hopeful that with Bozie’s guidance, the rest of the elephants will soon accept her as part of the group.
