Jumbo junior beats the odds

Staff at Sydney's Taronga Zoo are calling it a miracle, but experts warned yesterday that the 100kg male elephant calf born live two days after being pronounced dead in the womb would struggle to survive.

Zoo keepers were astonished and delighted yesterday when Porntip, one of Taronga's rare Asian elephants, gave birth to the live calf after a lengthy and difficult labour.

On Monday, staff had said ultrasounds showed the baby was trapped in an upside-down position from which there was no possibility of a successful birth.

They also said that, after a week of intensive labour by Porntip, they had found none of the five vital signs indicating her calf was still alive. Moreover, other female elephants had lost interest in the labour, a bad omen.

Thomas Hildebrand, Taronga's senior veterinarian, and an international expert on elephant births, said: "Should the calf be born alive, it would be a miracle."

Yesterday, at 3.27am, that miracle came about. Zoo's director Cameron Kerr said: "[Porntip's] dedicated keepers reported the amazing news early this morning. Taronga's veterinary team immediately rushed to the elephant barn to assist Porntip and the calf."

But he added: "While this is incredible news, the young calf still has a long way to go. Our vets are now working to determine the possible effects of the protracted labour on the calf.

"His health is being monitored and it is still too early to know if the calf will survive long-term. There are no guarantees ... but we hope that its birth against the odds will stand it in good stead."

Porntip, whose name means "gift from heaven", is one of eight endangered elephants brought to Australia from Thailand in 2006, under a controversial breeding programme.

The 18-year-old female, considered the matriarch of Taronga's herd, was artificially inseminated 22 months ago and went into labour on March 1.

There are believed to be as few as 33,000 Asian elephants left in the wild.

Half of first-time mothers like Porntip lose their calves. Both she and the baby were said to be very tired and weak yesterday.

Porntip, who was used in the tourism industry in Thailand, is with her calf in an enclosure.