An elephant calf born at a German zoo is the real heavyweight after hitting 30 stone at its first weighing.
The tiny elephant named Otto was born at Hellabrunn Zoo in Munich, Germany, and is now nearly three months old.
Otto’s first weighing took place, and the cute calf came in at 192 kilograms (30.2 stone, 423 pounds).
His mother, Temi, weighs exactly 3,965 kilograms (624 stone, 8,741 pounds) today. Animal keepers are pleased with her present weight since she has shed approximately 150 kg (23.6 stone, 330 pounds) after giving birth to Otto.
The young fellow’s daily routine includes spending time with his mum and two aunts, Mallangala and Panang, in the enclosure and sandpit.
The baby elephant is said to be very bright, always wanting to learn new things and attempting to mimic the actions of older elephants by splitting long poles with its feet and trunk to chew on them.
“It’s too cold for Otto right now, but we also have to ensure that he understands he needs to come back in when the gate opens – this is something that will take some teaching,” Materna added.
Obesity has a detrimental influence on the health and happiness of numerous species, and it may be a problem for elephant keepers in zoos.
According to a study, the highest body condition score of 5, suggestive of obesity, was observed in 34 percent of zoo elephants.
The majority of elephants had elevated body condition score, with 74 percent in the body condition score of 4 (40 percent) and 5 (34 percent) categories.
Only 22 percent of elephants had body condition score of 3, and less than 5 percent of the population was assigned the lowest body condition score categories.
“A body condition score estimates adiposity based on visual or tactile evaluations of muscle tone and key skeletal elements,” reads the study. “A number of scoring systems have been developed for a variety of species, and scores are commonly based on an ordinal 5- or 9-point scale. Low scores represent animals with less body fat, whereas higher scores represent animals with more body fat.”
