Elephant FAQs

The baby’s name is Linh Mai, pronounced like LIN-my. The name is inspired by the Vietnamese heritage of her mother, Nhi Linh, and grandmother, Trong Nhi.

Linh means “spirit” or “soul,” and Mai refers to the apricot blossom, a flower associated with Tết (Lunar New Year), which begins Feb. 17.

Linh Mai was one of four names that were offered for a public online vote on the Zoo’s website held shortly after the calf’s birth. Fans were invited to vote for their favorite name by making a donation on the Zoo’s website. Linh Mai received $22,885, or 39% of the vote. 

Linh Mai is expected to make her Zoo and Elephant Cam debut later this spring. 

Right now, the calf is spending time off-exhibit bonding with her mother, herd members and keepers behind the scenes. This is critical to the calf's development, as this species is intelligent, sensitive and social.  Based on the elephants’ behavioral cues, keepers will determine exactly when Linh Mai is ready to make her public debut.

Elephant Trails is a safe and secure space for our herd to roam. In anticipation of the calf testing the exhibit’s boundaries as she grows, our animal care and facilities teams made a few modifications. They backfilled eroded areas with rocks, dirt and logs and added another steel cable — closer to the ground — around the perimeter of the indoor and outdoor habitats. The team also drained some of the exhibit pools completely and others to a shallow depth where the calf can easily touch the bottom while standing.

Once you’re inside the Zoo, there is no special ticket or pass necessary to see the elephants. However, the Elephant Trails exhibit is currently closed to give the elephants time to bond with the new baby. As a reminder, visitors need an entry pass to enter the Zoo. Entry passes are free and can be booked online.  

Members will enjoy an exclusive viewing opportunity of the calf ahead of her public debut. Join today to enjoy great benefits and support wildlife conservation! 

Information about the elephants is posted regularly on the Zoo’s website and social media channels. To be among the first to receive elephant news, sign up for the Zoo’s newsletter and follow the Zoo on Instagram, X and Facebook. 

We are excited to share that Nhi Linh gave birth overnight Feb. 2 at 1:15 a.m. to a healthy female calf. 

The calf was born to 12-year-old mother Nhi Linh and 44-year-old father Spike. The pair bred in April 2024 following a breeding recommendation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan (SSP). Asian elephant pregnancies last 18 to 22 months on average; Nhi Linh’s pregnancy was 21 months.

Shortly after birth, Zoo veterinarians performed a comprehensive neonatal exam on the calf, who appeared healthy, alert and bright-eyed. They listened to her heart and lungs, examined her eyes and ears, tested the range of motion in her limbs and obtained a blood sample. They also took the calf’s measurements. She tipped the scales at 308 pounds (140 kilograms) and measured 38.5 inches tall.  

Nhi Linh gave birth in an off-exhibit area connected to the Elephant Community Center, the main indoor habitat of the Zoo’s elephant herd. This private area, called the Elephant Barn, includes a large indoor habitat with five “suites” that can accommodate individual elephants or small groups. Nhi Linh had her own birthing suite, and her mother Trong Nhi (22), and their herd mate Bozie (51), were in suites nearby. 

Although male Spike and females Swarna (51) and Maharani (35) were not present in the barn, they likely heard and communicated with their herd mates. Elephants have sensitive hearing that allows them to pick up the low-frequency rumbles and other vocalizations emitted by other elephants over long distances. 

Spike arrived at the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (NZCBI) March 23, 2018, from Busch Gardens Tampa Bay in Tampa, Florida. He is on loan from Zoo Miami, where he was born July 2, 1981. He is currently 44 years old.   

NZCBI welcomed Nhi Linh, along with her mother, Trong Nhi, Nov. 7, 2022, as a gift from the Rotterdam Zoo in South Holland, Netherlands. Nhi Linh was born Aug. 10, 2013 at Rotterdam Zoo. She is 12 years old.  

Having a healthy, genetically diverse and self-sustaining population of Asian elephants in human care is critically important for this species’ future. Because Spike, Trong Nhi and Nhi Linh’s genes are not well represented in zoos, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Saving Animals From Extinction (SAFE) program for Asian Elephants recommended breeding them. 

In 2024, our animal care teams observed Spike breeding with both Nhi Linh and Trong Nhi. Although staff provided the highest level of prenatal care, complications can occur, just as with any animal pregnancy. Veterinarians ultimately confirmed that Trong Nhi had conceived, but the calf was not viable. 

Spike is the Zoo’s largest elephant, standing just under 10 feet tall and weighing approximately 13,000 pounds. Only male Asian elephants grow large tusks, which makes Spike easy to tell apart from to the rest of the herd.  

Nhi Linh is the Zoo’s smallest female elephant. At 7.5 feet tall and approximately 6,700 pounds, she is about half Spike’s size. She sports small tusks, called tushes, which protrude a few inches from her lip line.

Spike is the largest animal in the Zoo, and keepers say his confidence matches his size and presence. Although male Asian elephants can become dominant or aggressive during musth (the period when a bull elephant readies himself for breeding), Spike exudes a laid-back, “gentlemanly” attitude. When he doesn’t like something, he shows his displeasure briefly and then goes right back to being cool, calm and collected.   

Nhi Linh is feisty, rambunctious and brave when it comes to trying and exploring new things. She is inquisitive and shows a great deal of interest in exploring her surroundings. She is not shy about letting keepers know when she likes something — or doesn’t like something. Nhi Linh has proven to be very resilient, especially when it comes to voluntarily participating in medical procedures, including blood draws.   

Asian elephant pregnancies last 18 to 22 months (about 659 days on average) — the longest gestation period of any animal.  

Newborn Asian elephants weigh between 150 and 350 pounds (68 to 158 kilograms). Linh Mai weighed 308 pounds (140 kilograms) and measured 38.5 inches tall at birth.

Fewer than 50,000 Asian elephants are left in the world, and populations are declining due to poaching, habitat loss and conflict with people. Every birth brings new hope for this endangered species.  

The Zoo's last calf, a male named Kandula, was born in 2001 — nearly 25 years ago. Now, a new generation of zoogoers can experience the joy of seeing an elephant calf bond with herd mates, get into adorable mischief, play with enrichment and explore her environment. Visitors can meet the Zoo's elephants at the Elephant Trails exhibit for free.

Elephants at the Zoo receive about 130 pounds of food a day! Animal care and nutrition teams designed a healthy and balanced diet that meets the animals' nutritional needs. Weekly weigh-ins help our team ensure the elephants remain in good health.    

Their menu includes 1.5 bales of orchard hay, 40 pounds of fresh fruits and veggies, 15 pounds of grain, 50 to 100 pounds of fresh browse (branches, leaves and bamboo), and vitamin D and E supplements. They also receive straw to graze on. This dry, bland food isn’t as tasty to an elephant as orchard hay, but it satisfies their natural urge to graze without adding extra calories.

Elephants have four teeth—each about the size of a brick—with grooves that help them grind vegetation. 

Keepers teach the elephants behaviors that enable them to voluntarily participate in their own husbandry and medical care. This takes coordination among our staff and, of course, the elephants. To communicate, keepers use a combination of verbal and visual cues. The elephants interpret those cues to determine which behavior keepers are asking them to do.  

Keepers train the elephants using positive reinforcement, a type of operant conditioning where they pair desired behaviors with rewards in the form of attention and treats (their favorite foods). When keepers ask the elephants to do something, they can choose to voluntarily participate, knowing they will be rewarded. If they don’t want to participate, they don’t have to. These interactions help establish—and maintain—the important bond between an animal and a keeper. 

Each elephant has a unique personality and learns differently. When it comes to training, keepers treat each elephant as an individual and go at their pace.  

The animal care team closely monitors each elephant’s behavior, weight, and body condition. All of our elephants know how to voluntarily “shift” (move within their habitats), stand still on a scale and present parts of their body for evaluation. They also participate in diagnostic procedures, including blood draws, radiographs and ultrasounds.

Yes. Ultrasounds allow animal keepers and veterinarians to monitor fetal development in real time. What appears on screen largely depends on the calf’s position in utero. Generally, zoo veterinarians track a growing fetus’s heartbeat, skeletal development, and movements. 

Female elephants have two mammary glands on their chest near their front legs. Keepers conducted training sessions with Nhi Linh to desensitize her to the sensations of nursing by manipulating her mammary glands. This acclimation training is especially important, since Nhi Linh has never nursed a calf. Keepers also trained Nhi Linh to extend her front legs forward, a position that can provide the calf with better nursing access. 

To help Nhi Linh maintain optimal body condition, keepers guided her through strength and flexibility training exercises as part of her daily care routine. 

The Zoo's animal care team practices protected contact with the Zoo’s adult elephants. Physical barriers, such as fencing or steel mesh, are in place to ensure safe distances are maintained between elephants and staff. Only in extreme cases would a staff member enter an enclosure with an elephant.

While elephants are known to be gentle giants, they have a hierarchical social structure and often display assertive behaviors, such as charging or trunk swinging. Those behaviors are rarely harmful for fellow elephants but could severely injure a human, due to an elephant’s sheer size and strength. It is important for animals to express their natural instincts, but staff safety is also key.

The best way to tell when an elephant is ready to give birth is by monitoring her blood samples for changes in estrogen and progesterone levels. In pregnant elephants, certain hormones are elevated. When they begin to fall back to normal “baseline” levels, birth is imminent.

Care team members are trained to recognize the behaviors that indicate an elephant is in labor. As with human births, water-breaking is typically an early sign. Elephants in labor also become restless and move around more than usual. Initially, they may lean against walls, rock from side to side, flap their ears or place their trunk in their mouth. As labor progresses, they may lie down and get up frequently, swat their tail, and urinate or defecate, among other behaviors. 

Once a pregnant elephant’s hormones hit baseline, labor can occur as soon as a few hours or as long as several days.  

Right before birth, the fetus creates a bulge in the mother’s abdomen. The Zoo's elephant care team was able to see the calf travel up the birth canal toward the mother’s tail moments before delivery. 

Asian elephants are native to 13 countries throughout South Asia and Southeast Asia. Fewer than 50,000 Asian elephants are left in the world due to habitat loss, conflict with humans and poaching. Every birth brings new hope for this endangered species.   

For more than 50 years, scientists at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute have been at the forefront of studying Asian elephants at the Zoo and in their native habitats. Together, they are creating a comprehensive view of Asian elephant biology, behavior, reproduction, health, genetics, migration, elephant endotheliotropic herpesviruses (EEHV) and the challenges surrounding human–elephant conflict. Because of its existing relations with U.S. and foreign governments, non-governmental organizations, and major academic and zoological institutions in elephant range countries, the Zoo is uniquely positioned to spearhead efforts that improve life for Asian elephants in zoos and save them in the wild. 

NZCBI’s multigenerational herd has been shaped by decades of behavioral research. The Elephant Trails habitat is a living research lab. Here at the Zoo, Smithsonian scientists study our Asian elephant “ambassadors” to better understand the species’ behavior, reproduction, disease, genetics and movement.  

• Studies on bonding, play, and maternal care inform best practices for zoos worldwide.  

• Innovative enrichment and nutrition strategies developed at NZCBI support both physical and mental health.  

• NZCBI developed hormone-tracking systems now standard in U.S. elephant facilities—tools that help predict ovulation, pregnancy, and health changes.  

• Studies on milk composition, gut microbiomes, and hormones are unlocking new insights into calf nutrition, immunity, and reproductive success.  

Our team shares this knowledge with facilities accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), ensuring elephants receive the best possible care.

And, in Southeast Asia, Smithsonian experts work with partners to develop strategies and solutions that help humans and elephants peacefully co-exist, from rewilding former work elephants to safeguarding lives and crops on lands that have been converted from forests to farms.  

• Our scientists train local teams in genetic analysis, health monitoring and welfare practices—expanding the network of people protecting elephants.  

• In Thailand and Laos, we helped establish the first elephant DNA labs, now regional hubs for conservation research and training.  

• GPS tracking collars, designed and tested at the Zoo, are now used on wild elephants to safely study movement patterns and reduce human-elephant conflict.  

• Working with partners in Laos, we are helping reintroduce former work elephants into safe, wild environments.  

NZCBI’s National Elephant Herpesvirus Laboratory provides critical testing and data that guide global response efforts. The lab analyzes thousands of samples each year from elephants across North America, helping detect and treat infections early. NZCBI scientists train partners across the U.S. and Asia in EEHV testing, monitoring, and early intervention to save young elephants. Through international collaboration, we’re advancing diagnostics, treatments, and global capacity to combat this disease. Smithsonian research contributed to the first EEHV vaccine, turning tragedy into progress for elephant conservation. 

The elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV) is a naturally occurring virus that both African and Asian elephants carry. NZCBI's team first described the virus in detail—and how deadly it can be—in 1995, through the unfortunate death of young Asian elephant calf, Kumari. Once EEHV enters an elephant’s bloodstream, it can replicate rapidly, become symptomatic and may lead to EEHV hemorrhagic disease—as it did for Kumari. All four subtypes of EEHV (EEHV-1A, EEHV-1B, EEHV-4 and EEHV-5) are present and active within our herd. 

NZCBI is committed to learning everything we can about this virus, including why some elephants succumb to it while others survive. We established the National Elephant Herpesvirus Laboratory, which serves as a resource of information, testing and research for the elephant community worldwide. And, NZCBI staff have helped establish labs at zoos and institutions around the world. 

No. A common misconception about EEHV is that it only affects elephants in human care. That is not the case—it affects wild populations, too. 

Zoos have elephant experts, veterinarians and pathologists on staff who can monitor an animal’s health and investigate death in a timely manner. In range countries, it is much more challenging to study how EEHV affects wild populations. Scientists may not come across a body until days or weeks after its death—far too late to determine whether EEHV was the culprit. Current studies are investigating how EEHV impacts wild populations—a crucial next step for the species’ survival.   

Once inside a host, EEHV can go into a latent phase —that is, the virus is dormant until conditions are right for development. Scientists haven’t found what causes the virus to go from latent to active and symptomatic. Research indicates that stress may be a factor.  

For elephants, the wild is not an easy place to survive. Stresses include encountering predators and humans, getting separated from herd members, the birth or death of family members, the movement of individuals in or out of a herd, stormy weather and the list goes on. Zoo elephants may experience some similar events, particularly with the changing of herd members and moving from place to place.   

Most adult elephants are able to fight the virus when it comes out of latency, because they have antibodies to the virus. They may experience only mild symptoms or no sign of disease at all.  

For calves, the story is different. Research indicates that if a calf is exposed to EEHV while it is nursing and has maternal antibodies, they have a better chance of producing their own antibodies and surviving without experiencing serious disease. Young elephants up to 20 years of age that become exposed to EEHV after they have weaned (and lost those maternal antibodies) appear to be the most susceptible to succumbing to the disease.   

The Zoo's animal care team uses three methods to regularly monitor the members of our elephant herd: behavior watches, trunk washes and blood draws.  

Keepers work one-on-one with the elephants every day and know the normal “baseline” for each individual's behavior and health. This includes their sleeping, eating, playing, exploring and socializing patterns. When they see a marked change in these behaviors, staff track them closely to determine if it is a one-off or if there’s another reason for this change in demeanor. In addition to changes in mood or behavior, they look for physical signs of illness: edema (swelling), lameness, loss of appetite or a change in their desire to interact with animal care staff.

Elephants will intermittently shed EEHV in their trunk secretions over the course of their life. The Zoo's elephant care team does weekly “trunk washes” to detect viral shed. During a trunk wash, keepers ask an elephant to present their trunk. Using a syringe, keepers inject saline into a nostril, then ask the elephant to raise their trunk for 30 seconds. On keepers' cue, the elephants blow the solution into a sterile bag, and they place it in a test tube and send it to the Zoo’s EEHV lab, where it is analyzed for any viral shedding.  

During a blood draw, keepers ask an elephant to stand still and present their ear. This gives veterinarians full access to the blood vessels in the back of their ear. They swab the site with an alcohol wipe and use a butterfly needle—the same one you would see at your doctor’s office—to obtain the blood. It takes anywhere from 30 seconds to several minutes to collect the sample size they need. The animal care team rewards the elephants with food and lots of praise for their voluntary participation.  

EEHV can quickly become symptomatic. There is a very short window of time to successfully begin treatment. That’s why it’s important that the animal care team monitors the elephants’ health so closely. If they see subtle changes or detect viral sheds, they can start treatment right away.  

One of the most effective treatments is a blood transfusion from other elephants. We want to have a blood supply ready to go if Nhi Linh or the calves become ill. Luckily, two of the Zoo's elephants, Spike and Swarna, both voluntarily participate in large-volume blood collection as donors. 

There are three big ways members of the public can support the Zoo's elephant conservation program: donate, become a Zoo member and shop online or in person during Zoo visits.