Walt Disney World
Though the cuteness is all new to Disney Parks visitors, it’s been years in the making for Animal Kingdom staff, who helped Nadirah conceive naturally with one of the park’s three male elephants, Mac, then aided her through pregnancy (22 months!) and birth.
“The entire process is very slow,” says Liz Warncke, animal care manager for Disney’s Animals, Science and Environment. “We start with small introductions just to kind of see [the elephants'] first reactions to each other. Fortunately for us, Mac and Nadirah were always very interested in each other.”
Staff endocrinologists were already tracking Nadirah’s cycles, and could tell from spikes in certain hormones that she was pregnant in early 2022. From there, Animal Kingdom staff monitored every aspect of her pregnancy, conducting ultrasounds, checking her vital signs and adjusting her diet as necessary.
When Nadirah’s due date was nearing, endocrinologists were able to determine an 85-day window in which they could expect Corra’s arrival. Then finally, the big day came.
“She was uncomfortable for the last few days leading up to Corra’s birth, but nothing to where we saw the signs of active labor,” Warncke recalls. “And then right before [delivery] she actually lied down and went to sleep. Me and another keeper were there, like, ‘Well, she’s sleeping, it’s probably not going to happen tonight.’ And then she got up and started showing some heavy labor signs — doing some pretty intense stretching, moving around the yard — and maybe 10, 15 mintutes later we had a calf on the ground.”
What has never been an issue for Corra is bravery and independence. “She’s very curious and super confident,” says Warncke. “Anything new for her, there’s no hesitancy there. She’s just really excited.”
Corra and her mother, Nadirah.Walt Disney World
Terrell is particularly proud that the Animal Kingdom now has three generations of elephants living on its savanna, echoing the family dynamic seen in the wild.
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On Thursday, keepers left it up to Corra on whether or not she would enter the public-facing savanna at Animal Kingdom’s Kilimanjaro Safaris, coaxing Nadirah with bales of hay but little intervention otherwise. However, the calf came running out ahead of her mom, surprising safari-goers and even their drivers, many of whom were seeing the little one for the first time.
Corra and her family will spend several hours on the savanna most days, rotating with the other elephants (which aside from the three males includes another mother-daughter pair) on who is seen and who is in the more private elephant habitat.
Terrell hopes that visitors to Animal Kingdom who catch a glimpse of Corra will leave inspired.
“Maybe they’ll go home and read a little bit, learn about elephants and bees, or not buy ivory, or if they’re fortunate enough, they’ll go to Africa on a safari and contribute to the local economy,” he says. “We can all make little differences in the world that will protect elephants.”
source: people.com
