An Asian elephant calf was born at Zurich Zoo and its name will start with the letter Z

ZURICH — A 19-year-old Asian elephant at the Zurich Zoo gave birth this weekend to a male calf whose name, starting with the letter Z, will be announced this week.

A light-sensitive monitoring camera picked up the birth before dawn Saturday and the baby's earliest, wobbly steps inside the zoo’s Kaeng Krachan Elephant Park. It's now home to six of the pachyderms: four females including mother Farha; bull elephant and father Thai; and the new calf.

Zoo Director Severin Dressen said staff were happy but “still cautious” about the birth.

“The first weeks of a calf’s life are always the most delicate — even if the calf currently appears healthy and fit,” he said in a statement.

The Asian elephant, or Elephas maximus, is a critically endangered species with about 50,000 estimated in the wild, and their numbers are declining, the zoo said. The zoo breeds the elephants as part of conservation efforts under the European Endangered Species Program, Dressen said.

Zoo staffers made sure to keep Farha — already a mother of three — away from another female named Panang, who has had little previous experience with young animals, and the separation will continue for the coming days.

Such births are relatively rare in zoos compared to those of other species because of the elephant's nearly two-year gestation period, zoo officials said.

A zoo spokesman said the name of the new calf will be announced after a staff meeting on Wednesday, but 2025 is a “Z” year so the moniker will automatically start with that letter.