Cuteness Alert! St. Louis Zoo Shares First Video of Baby Elephant Playing

On November 23rd, the St. Louis Zoo welcomed a bouncing little baby boy. OK well, he's not that little, but he is oh so precious!

St. Louis Zoo Baby Elephant Announcement

His name is Jet and he is an Asian Elephant. Born to a 17-year-old mama named Jade after twenty-two months of pregnancy. Yikes! I can't imagine carrying a baby for that long. Let alone the typical 250-350-pound newborn calf. The names are special here as Jet and Jade are both gemstones. Jet's great-grandparents' names were Onyx and Pearl, so the tradition continues.

If you have ever been there, you know that the elephant habitat at the St. Louis Zoo is absolutely wonderful. The WildCare Institute Center for Asian Elephant Conservation is committed to protecting and growing the species. Mama and baby are doing well bonding behind the scenes. As you can see from the first video shared of Jet, he had fun with his first bath.

He learned how to get up on the scale for weigh-ins where he clocked in at 262 pounds at only a few weeks old. Still, he looks so tiny compared to Mama. How sweet is he? The little hairs on top of his head are my favorite. I love watching him play with branches and bounce around, but did you see that photo of him napping? PRECIOUS!

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While the weather is cold, Jet and Mama Jade will stay in a private area of the zoo. Allowing the baby to stay healthy and strong for his official public debut when temperatures warm up. I sure wish they would do a live cam so we could watch them like the Nashville Zoo does when they welcome a new baby to the family. We'll just have to be patient and plan a trip this Spring to the St. Louis Zoo. It's our favorite. Free, fun, and beautiful.