Elephant Birth Video That Will Have You on the Edge Of Your Seat

Elephant lover Sarah Bearden sent me this amazing video of an elephant giving birth at the Elephant Safari Park at Taro in Ubud, Bali. Three things make it exceptionally surprising:

1. The quality of the video is crystal clear. The camera and the elephant mother are positioned so viewers can see everything. WARNING: It's graphic. Not for the squeamish. Watch it before deciding to let your kids watch it.
2. The birth is really fast. Elephants take two years to gestate in the womb, but the birthing process goes pretty quick. This elephant baby is born in one big plop (and a gush, as the amniotic fluids release.)
3. It's emotional. There is a period of time when you can't tell if the baby is alive or dead. I'm intentionally spoiling the end, which includes a happy ending, because otherwise it's pretty intense. However, I promise that it will still have you on the edge of your seat as you watch the new elephant mother taking care of her newborn calf.

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Comments

[andrea dixon]

reaction to elephant birthing film.
Talk about UN-NATURAL childbirth! I found the whole thing quite disturbing. First of all... Do you think an elephant would ever choose to deliver her young on a rock? Well, this poor mother was given no choice, but to drop that poor baby onto concrete! No wonder she fitfully kicked it into conscienciousness! Despite all of the contusions of the birth process the poor thing endured, it slamed down onto concrete, I can't help but think, that, may very well have been the major factor in it's slow start. Then this Wonderful Mother trying so, to upright her baby on that slippery CONCRETE surface, (which we didn't get to see all of, in this highly edited film) she, knew far better than the exploiters of these animals, (The boob even admits to, what did he say???, 4 minute edited out?) I can only imagime the mothers panic we didn't get to see! If an animal as large as these does NOT stand quickly following birth, their lungs will not clear, and it's a death sentence. I know this from being involved in the birthing process of large animals. Not only did this poor mother have to get her tramatized newborn to stand...she had to teach it to skate!!! In captivity even horses are given a soft earthed stall with extra thick bedding on witch to drop their young, and most horses choose to lay down at that point. In the wild, these large animals, "paw at and kick up" the ground to soften the birthing area. They would never choose to drop their young onto a rock! Shame on this idiot for showing us his barbaric birthing operation