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Wednesday, August 03, 2005
By Mark Weiner
Staff writer
Trumpeting his own arrival, Kedar the newborn elephant let out a baby roar as he was introduced to the public Tuesday afternoon at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park. (New York)

A crowd of about 400 people applauded when the now 332-pound baby walked in front of his mother as the two entered the zoo's elephant demonstration yard at 1:30 p.m.

Kedar, born Sunday to 22-year-old Targa, was greeted by ooohs, ahhs and the unrestrained delight of one woman who shouted out, "Oh, look at the baby!"

So far, Kedar does what most babies do: "He alternates between sleeping and nursing," said Anne Baker, the zoo director.

In his first two days of life, Kedar lost 13 pounds, a normal process for a newborn elephant, Baker said.

"I expect tomorrow we'll see him level off or start to gain weight again," Baker said Tuesday, adding the staff is impressed with Kedar's healthy appetite. Kedar means "powerful" or "mighty one" in Hindi.

Careful observers may have noticed a severe bend to the right at the bottom of Kedar's tail, something that may become one of his distinguishing characteristics. Baker said veterinarians checked out the tail and concluded it would not affect his health.

http://wtvh.com/story.asp?topid=78&stid=12984

Mourning Baby Elephant Kedar
Thursday August 04, 2005

Devastating, that's how zoo keepers and workers at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo describe the mood there Friday. Visitors couldn't help but feel the sadness at the elephant exhibit after baby Kedar, just four days old died Thursday night. So many people had fallen for the baby asian elephant, now they struggle to deal with his loss. A small memorial with cards, flowers and even a peanut candy bar sits in front of the exhibit. Little Kedar fell into the pool Thursday morning and several other elephants went in after him. Instead of helping, the protective animals pushed the little elephant in deeper and he got water in his lungs. Veterinarians put him on antibiotics, but he wasn't able to pull through. Directors are thinking about limiting the number of elephants at the pool at one time to prevent something like this in the future. The baby's mother, Targa, looked for her son this morning. Trainers say he will mourn him, then soon get over it. The zoo is starting an internal investigation to see if anything could have been done to prevent the death. The US Department of Agriculture is also looking into the accident.