St. Louis Zoo announces birth of baby Asian elephant

Nov. 25 (UPI) -- The St. Louis Zoo in Missouri announced the birth of a male baby Asian elephant, the first of his species to be conceived via artificial insemination at the facility.

The zoo said in a news release that 17-year-old Asian elephant Jade gave birth to the baby boy at 4:32 a.m. Saturday.

The baby, named Jet, marks the first successful case of artificial insemination for an Asian elephant at the St. Louis Zoo and is the fourth generation of his family to live at the facility.

"We are thrilled to welcome this calf, which starts the fourth generation of our Asian elephant family at the zoo," said Tim Thier, the zoo's curator of mammals/ungulates and River's Edge, as well as the director of the St. Louis Zoo WildCare Institute Center for Asian Elephant Conservation. "Jade and baby are doing well and bonding."

The mother and new baby are being kept in an off-exhibit area and are expected to go on public display sometime in the spring.