By 1808Delaware
The barn was still and dim, just the way the elephants prefer to settle in for the night. In a nearby room, a small team of animal care specialists crowded around monitors, watching faint shapes move on the infrared feed. It was late, the zoo was closed, and all eyes were on Phoebe.
For days, her hormone levels had pointed to the final stretch of pregnancy. A two-year wait had led to this quiet moment. Then, on the screen, Phoebe shifted her weight and lifted her right leg. The team recognized the sign. It was almost time.
At 10:41 PM on October 21, 2025, Phoebe delivered a healthy male calf weighing 222 pounds. Within minutes, he pushed himself upright on unsteady legs while Phoebe stood guard. No fanfare, no noise. Just instinct and a new life taking its first step.
A Year of Firsts at Columbus Zoo
This little bull calf isn’t arriving into just any herd. His birth marks the first time in the zoo’s nearly century-long history that two elephant calves have been born in the same year. Sunny gave birth to her calf, Rita Jean, earlier this summer.
Zoo leadership says that milestone wasn’t luck. It’s the result of years of planning, expanding habitats, and designing spaces that allow elephant families to behave more naturally.
Two calves in one year means more chances for social learning and play, which are essential in elephant development. More importantly, it strengthens the social bonds of a herd that now includes Phoebe and her calf, Phoebe’s older son Frankie, Rudy, Johnson, Sunny, and Sunny’s calf Rita Jean.
The father of both calves, Sabu, resides at the Cincinnati Zoo and visited Columbus for a planned breeding stay as part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan.
These Early Days Are About Trust
For now, Phoebe and her newborn remain backstage in the elephant building. The team gives Phoebe full control. When she signals she’s ready, the calf will meet the rest of the herd. At a pace she sets, he’ll eventually step into the public viewing habitat, where guests will get their first up-close look.
Only after those early milestones will the zoo announce a name.
More Than a Cute Moment
Asian elephants are endangered. In the past three generations, their population has dropped by at least half. Habitat loss and poaching continue to shrink their range, which now covers only about 15 percent of what it once did.
The Columbus Zoo is working far beyond its own property line. Working with the Wildlife Trust of India and the IUCN Species Survival Commission, the zoo helped establish the Center for Species Survival for Asian Elephants, the first facility of its kind dedicated to a single species. The center coordinates international conservation efforts in 13 countries where wild elephants still live.
A calf born in Ohio may feel far from the forests of India, but conservation doesn’t happen in one place. Every healthy birth strengthens the global population and protects the genetic line of a species fighting to survive.
What’s Next
In the coming weeks, the zoo will begin sharing updates on the calf’s milestones, introductions to other elephants, and the community naming process. The public will have a chance to visit him in person once Phoebe decides he is ready to explore beyond the barn.
What began in near darkness on a quiet October night has turned into a moment of history for Columbus. And for everyone who has followed the rise of this herd, the soft rumble of a new calf is more than a sweet moment. It is a hopeful one.
Source, Photo: Columbus Zoo & Aquarium
