This is the sweet moment a mother elephant nurses her newborn calf that delighted zoo staff with its surprise birth at Easter.
The healthy male calf was born to 19-year-old Farha at Zurich Zoo, Switzerland, at around 2am on Saturday, 19th April.
Zoo staff said the birth went smoothly and without complications, and the newborn is already standing and feeding.
The calf’s father is Thai, a 20-year-old bull elephant. Labour is believed to have started as early as Thursday.
The birth is considered good news for the critically endangered species of Asian elephants, whose numbers in the wild continue to decline.
Right after giving birth, the zoo said Farha instinctively took on her new role as mother and began caring for her newborn.
(Simona Kitanovska / newsX)