This ‘Feisty’ Asian Elephant at the National Zoo Is Pregnant. She May Birth the First Calf Born There in Nearly 25 Years
Elephant enthusiasts everywhere could receive a New Year’s gift come early 2026.
At the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (NZCBI), 12-year-old Asian elephant Nhi Linh is expecting her first calf, estimated to arrive between mid-January and early March, per a statement. The calf—which would be the first born at the zoo in almost 25 years—would join a herd of six, including its father, 44-year-old Spike.
Fans can keep tabs on all of them via the Elephant Cam live feed.
“To add another baby to the herd, it’s really going to be exciting to see that,” Brandie Smith, the director of NZCBI, tells Smithsonian magazine. Moreover, these elephants are “endangered in the wild, so this is a case where every elephant on the planet makes a difference.”
Fewer than 50,000 Asian elephants are estimated to live in their homeland of South and Southeast Asia, and their population continues to shrink. That’s largely because of habitat loss driven by human activities, such as agriculture, mining and urbanization. Another problem is human-elephant conflict, in which the animals damage crops or other human property near their habitat, and people hurt or kill the elephants in retaliation. Solutions for the space-sharing situation aren’t simple, Smith notes.
NZCBI is working to preserve the iconic species. Spike came to the zoo in the spring of 2018, and he is on loan from Zoo Miami. Keepers say he has a “laid-back, gentlemanly” personality, per the statement. Nhi Linh, described as “feisty and rambunctious,” and her mother, 22-year-old Trong Nhi, were gifted by the Rotterdam Zoo in the Netherlands and arrived at NZCBI in the fall of 2022.
Nhi Linh and Spike bred as part of a Species Survival Plan program aimed at boosting the number of Asian elephants, which is managed by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Program scientists consider animals’ genetics, health and temperament when making breeding recommendations. The pair bred in April 2024, and Nhi Linh’s hormone levels measured through blood draws taken the following months revealed that she was pregnant.
“Elephant pregnancies are really special,” Robbie Clark, elephant manager and acting curator of Elephant Trails at NZCBI, says to Smithsonian magazine. “Asian elephants have one of the longest pregnancies of any animal.” Their average gestation period is around 18 to 22 months.
Animal care staff have been meticulously tracking Nhi Linh and her fetus’ progress through hormone measurements, ultrasounds and behavioral assessments, and they are cautiously optimistic for the would-be first-time mother. “We’ve monitored along the way, and we knew we had a sustained, healthy pregnancy up to now,” Don Neiffer, chief veterinarian for NZCBI, tells Smithsonian magazine. At this point, “we’re at the end game, and we’re waiting for it to come out.”
But complications could still arise. Nhi Linh’s mother, Trong Nhi, also bred with Spike in April 2024, but she miscarried.
“What we can do is take the information we’ve earned from [Trong Nhi’s] pregnancy and apply it to how we may or may not monitor in the future, and also share those details with the greater elephant community,” Clark says.
Staff are continuing to follow NZCBI’s calf protocol, which includes plans for neonatal exams, complications and introductions of the baby and mother back to the herd, Neiffer notes. He adds that the team has all the necessary supplies and will eventually “be stepping up the round-the-clock observations.”
“So, we’re ready,” Neiffer says. “We just don’t know, again, when she’s going to decide ‘I’m ready.’”
