Photo gallery for Elephant Baby Boom in Amboseli

In general in Amboseli calves are born between December and June with a few outliers from July through November. In 2007 only six calves were born in the second half of 2007 with no calves at all born in December which was unusual. It is the third favorite birth month after March and April which have the highest rates.

By January we were beginning to wonder where the babies were. Finally one lone calf was born in January 2008 and then eight in February. It still seemed low to us, but we need not have been concerned because suddenly there was a deluge of babies—17 in March and 15 in April and we are still finding new ones every day. They are so tiny. One forgets how relatively small they are compared to say a one year old.

All the new calves are doing well. The older female calves in the families are lavishing the newborns with attention. They take their babysitting duties very seriously, and having been deprived of small calves to look after, they’re making up for lost time.

The last time we had a baby boom in Amboseli was during 1999 and 2000 and it was a result of particularly high rainfall in 1997-98, which covered an amazing El Nino period. The elephants responded to the good times by putting on fat reserves and getting pregnant. In 1999, 116 calves were born and in 2000, 114. Because elephants have a 4.5 year calving interval the next birth peaks were in 2003 and 2004. It wasn’t as strong a peak because rainfall was not outstanding. Normally, there should be a slight peak in 2007 and 2008, but this might not happen because rainfall has been poor over the last few years. During prolonged droughts elephants will extend the age of sexual maturity and increase calving intervals. It’s natural family planning.

With 41 calves born so far it’s a good start to the year, but we won’t really know if the peak will be strong until the end of December. In the meantime, we are all, elephants and people alike, enjoying the babies.