Elephant baby media kit - Oregon Zoo

getting to know Rose-tu
Playful and highly intelligent, Rose-Tu is one of the
most popular elephants in the herd. Born at the
Oregon Zoo in 1994 to Me-Tu and Hugo, she was
considered by keepers as one of the feistiest babies the
herd had produced in years — a trait she seems to have
passed on to both of her calves (see pages 3 and 12).
Now 18 years old, Rose-Tu is still playful but has also
matured into her role as the mother of the zoo’s third
generation of elephant babies.
Her birth
Although zookeepers did
not expect Rose-Tu’s
delivery until October of
1994, mother Me-Tu
began showing signs of
oncoming labor at the end
of August. After a threeday
vigil, however, the
baby still had not made its
appearance.
Zookeepers decided to
induce labor with an
injection of oxytocin, a
drug similar to that used to induce birth in humans.
“Once the injection was given, the labor proceeded
quickly,” said Dennis Pate, zoo curator at the time.
“Me-Tu began bending at her knee, and a large bulge
appeared below her tail.”
Nineteen minutes later, on Aug. 31, the 180-pound calf
was born. She was the 26th elephant born at the zoo.
The baby made attempts to stand almost immediately.
After several failed attempts, she made it to her feet and
stood for 21 minutes. She was nursing within an hour
after birth.
Later that evening, Me-Tu unexpectedly gave birth to a
female twin, the first incidence of twin elephant birth in
North America. The second calf was completely still after
birth, and she died after a two-hour attempt by
veterinary staff to keep her alive. A necropsy revealed
brain damage and a collapsed lung.
The name of the Rose
By October, her original due date, more than 100,000
people had visited the rambunctious and spirited calf,
but she still didn’t have a name.
“This 175-pounder has great motor skills and is one of
the most unique calves I’ve seen,” said longtime
elephant keeper Roger Henneous. “She’s blowing
bubbles with her trunk, skipping and acting very feisty.
All she needs now is a name.”
The zoo received thousands of suggestions from the
public and whittled the choices down to five: Asha,
Koofed, Rose-Tu, Jorda or Song.
After a public vote, the calf was named Rose-Tu in honor
of her mother and grandmother, Me-Tu and Rosy.
Her first pregnancy
From 1994 to 2005, the zoo suspended its elephantbreeding
program, unable to risk the 50 percent chance
the calf would be a male. At the time, the zoo lacked
the space to house another bull elephant.
In June of 2005, the zoo received the bull elephant
Tusko on a breeding loan, and he and Rose-Tu were introduced
in the fall of 2006. Rose-Tu got along well with
Tusko and was receptive to his advances, and later that
year she became pregnant with her first calf.
After a nearly two-year gestation and 33 hours of labor,
Rose-Tu gave birth to 286-pound Samudra on August
23, 2008. But having never seen a birth before, the firsttime
mom nearly trampled her baby. Keepers quickly
intervened, and zoo staff worked around the clock for a
week to ensure the mother-calf bond became the strong
one it is today. Since Rose-Tu has now experienced childbirth,
keepers believe she will understand better what is
happening during her second birth.
Her second pregnancy
In the third week of February 2011, Rose-Tu became
pregnant for the second time by Tusko. Given Asian elephants’
20- to 22-month gestation range, her new calf
is expected in November or December 2012.
Rose-Tu has stayed in good health and will keep an active
schedule right to the day of birth. Keepers are helping
by monitoring Rose-Tu’s weight — at about 7,700
pounds, she’s packed on less than 500 pounds of baby
weight — and leading her through exercises that will
help her deliver her calf safely. Rose-Tu’s daily workout
O R E G O N Z O O P A C h y d e r m P r e s e n t 2 0 1 2 M E D I A K I T 10