Prague Zoo expects two more elephants to be born in 2020

The zoo’s Female elephants Janita and Tamara are once again pregnant, and expected to deliver next spring

Jason Pirodsky

Written by Jason Pirodsky Published on 15.05.2019 11:46:01 (updated on 15.05.2019) Reading time: 2 minutes

Prague Zoo has been blessed with the birth of two healthy elephants in recent years – Max, born in spring 2016, and brother Rudi, born six months later – and now the Zoo is expecting two more births early next year.

Female elephants Janita and Tamara, who gave birth to Max and Rudi, respectively, in 2016, are pregnant once again. The father is Ankhor, who also fathered the two males previously born at the Prague Zoo.

“Of course, I wouldn’t like to shout it too loud, but if everything goes as it should, the baby elephants will most likely be born in late March and early April,” Prague Zoo Director Miroslav Bobek stated at a press conference yesterday.

“Since we already have Max and Rudi, this time I would like at least one girl,” he added.

The new elephants were conceived in May and June of last year; the gestation period for Asian elephants is approximately 22 months.

“On April 26th, we performed an ultrasound examination of elephants Tamara and Janita, the pups were alive on the day of the examination and without abnormalities,” Prague Zoo veterinarian Roman Vodička confirmed, reports iDnes.cz.

The elephants born at Prague Zoo in 2016 were the very first in the Zoo’s 80+ year history.

Fans of Prague Zoo’s elephants, which have been some of the Zoo’s most popular residents over the past few decades, can also take home some unique souvenirs. The Zoo sells paper made from actual elephant dung, along with an “elephant urine” liquor (which isn’t the real deal, but a delicious Becherovka-like spirit).

Prague Zoo was rated the 4th best zoo in the world by TripAdvisor a few years back, and continues to showcase new additions.

While those long-awaited pandas aren’t expected to arrive at Prague Zoo any time soon, Zoo Director Bobek confirmed a number of other improvements expected to be introduced in the coming years at Tuesday’s press conference.

Those include a brand-new gorilla pavilion, which should begin construction this autumn and be ready for habitation within two years.

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