Elephant Calf Linh Mai Takes Steady Steps Towards Socializing With Her Herdmates

Following a public vote, our Asian elephant calf has finally received her name: Linh Mai, which means “spirit blossom” in Vietnamese. We are grateful to those who donated in support of our Asian elephant conservation program. Your support helps us build upon decades of research to better understand this charismatic endangered species. 

These past few weeks have brought both challenges and meaningful progress. Our goal remains for Linh Mai to be raised by her mother within her multigenerational herd. In this case, building those bonds is a careful and deliberate process, and we are seeing encouraging signs. Linh Mai is curious and her social personality is beginning to emerge. With staff onsite 24/7, our team remains fully focused on safely integrating her with Nhi Linh and the herd. 

Herd Integration: Careful Steps Forward 

While we celebrate Linh Mai—our first calf in nearly 25 years—our journey to build bonds among Linh Mai, her mother Nhi Linh, grandmother Trong Nhi and “auntie” Bozie has been one of ups and downs. As I mentioned in my Feb. 12 update, Linh Mai is currently separated from the three adults by a howdy barrier due to some initial aggression from her mom and grandma. Although we are encouraged by the recent behaviors we are seeing, there is still a long road ahead.  

Nhi Linh is a first-time mom, and it is clear she has conflicted feelings about her calf. On one hand, she shows interest in Linh Mai and responds whenever she vocalizes. On the other, she does not appear comfortable with the interaction and proximity to her daughter. Sometimes, she shows her discomfort by displaying frustration and aggression towards her calf.  

When that happens, Bozie—an experienced mother and the dominant female of their herd—steps in to guide those interactions. If Nhi Linh acts up, Bozie shows her displeasure by nudging Nhi Linh with her foot, cutting in front of her to push her back, or slapping her tail on her own leg. The message seems to come through loud and clear, as Nhi Linh then stops displaying those behaviors.  

Based on these interactions, it seems Bozie will play a pivotal role in facilitating Linh Mai’s introductions to Nhi Linh and Trong Nhi.  This past week, we gave all three adult females — Bozie, Trong Nhi and Nhi Linh — access to three sides of the calf’s enclosure, creating multiple opportunities for close proximity under protected conditions—that is, with a safety barrier between them. 

On Feb. 21, Bozie reached through the barrier and gently explored Linh Mai with her trunk — a positive and meaningful sign of curiosity and social interaction. When given similar access to Linh Mai this past week, grandmother Trong Nhi appeared nervous and uneasy but not overtly aggressive. If she and Bozie continue to demonstrate calm, positive behaviors around Linh Mai, our hope is that Nhi Linh will increasingly recognize her daughter as part of the herd and adjust her behavior over time. 

On Feb. 23, Linh Mai also had her first howdy introduction with Swarna, one of our adult female elephants who has a history of being a helpful auntie. Most of the time, Swarna lives in a herd with Spike (Linh Mai’s father) and Maharani, another adult female. While the three of them were at Calgary Zoo, Maharani had some difficulty parenting her calf, and Swarna stepped in. Now, with Linh Mai, we’re seeing Swarna take on that role once again.  

The moment they met, Swarna showed a lot of interest in the calf. She explored her gently and regularly, and she even followed Linh Mai around for a bit—exactly the kind of positive behaviors we hoped to see. During the encounter, Bozie, Trong Nhi and Nhi Linh looked on from a nearby enclosure.  

Based on Swarna and Linh Mai's positive interactions, we continued their howdy access overnight. All went well, and yesterday morning we opened the door between their enclosures, enabling them to meet face-to-face for the first time. We were thrilled to see Swarna calmly walked beside Linh Mai while the calf explored the enclosure and stood next to her as she drank her morning bottle.  

We hope that by seeing Swarna—an elephant who is part of their social group—interact positively with Linh Mai, the trio will start to see the calf as part of their herd. While building these bonds will take time, we are heartened to see things trending in a positive direction. 

Nhi Linh: First-Time Motherhood, Supported Through Training 

A key component of our animal care program is teaching the elephants behaviors that enable them to voluntarily participate in their own healthcare. We interact with each elephant one-on-one and communicate using a combination of verbal cues, training tools, hand signals and body gestures. When an elephant does the behavior we ask for, we offer them positive reinforcement in the form of their favorite foods. Although they do not have to participate, most of the time they choose to do so, knowing they will be rewarded.  

Since Nhi Linh had never nursed a calf before, part of her training leading up to Linh Mai’s birth included keepers manually manipulating her mammary glands. This helped familiarize her with the sensation of nursing and provided us with tools to assess milk production.  

Nhi Linh’s behavior shows us that she is not yet ready to safely share space with her daughter, so Linh Mai is not able to nurse directly from her mom at this time. However, Nhi Linh’s training has come in handy for navigating this situation. We are able to express milk from her daily, as the opportunity arises.  

Typically, a session yields between 15 and 30 mL—about one to two tablespoons. If Linh Mai was nursing directly from her mother, she likely would not get much more than that. Elephants are always on the move, so calves tend to nurse frequently and opportunistically.  

Linh Mai’s Nutrition: Stabilizing and Strengthening  

To support Linh Mai’s growth and digestion, we are taking a measured, science-based approach. Our nutrition team selected a milk-replacement formula based on nutritional analysis of Asian elephant breast milk. Based on Linh Mai’s daily weight trends and calculated energy requirements, we carefully recalibrate her feeding plan to ensure she is receiving the calories she needs for healthy development.  

In preparing Nhi Linh’s bottles, we measure the formula powder in batches and carefully blend it with warmed water. We take care to ensure it has an even consistency to optimize Linh Mai’s tolerance of the formula. As we collect milk samples from Nhi Linh, we add them to the formula so she benefits from the nutrients, hormones and immunoglobulins found in her mother’s milk. We warm the mixture to the appropriate feeding temperature, then portion it into bottles—each with the same concentration—so they’re ready to go when it’s time to feed her. Currently, she get one bottle every two hours.  

While Linh Mai has a healthy appetite, her stool has been loose and her weight gain slower than we would like. Our team is consulting closely with colleagues at other AZA-accredited institutions who have successfully navigated similar challenges and gone on to raise healthy, thriving calves.  

Our colleagues have also sent us fecal samples from their healthy Asian elephant calves. Why? Although it sounds unappetizing to us, fecal microbiota transplants can be very effective at settling digestive issues. Good microbes are critical to helping a host—be they human or elephant—digest food, regulate metabolism, reduce inflammation and prevent disease. 

By taking the healthy, diverse microbial communities from the feces of healthy Asian elephant calves and transplanting them into Linh Mai’s gut via the formula, we hope that the incoming microbes can replenish her community, help establish stable digestion, and get her defecating regularly with appropriate consistency.  

In addition, small amounts of Nhi Linh’s feces have been placed within the calf’s enclosure. This allows Linh Mai to be naturally exposed to her mother’s microbial community through normal environmental investigation — another way to help seed beneficial microbes. 

Overall, Linh Mai shows signs of continued improvement. While we are not out of the woods, we are cautiously optimistic about her chances as we continue to make progress and support her social development and nutritional health.  

Want to say 'hi' to Linh Mai? Our little “spirit blossom” is expected to make her Zoo and Elephant Cam debut later this spring. You can be among the first to see her! 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!