At the Smithsonian | April 15, 2026

See the Most Adorable Photos of Baby Elephant Linh Mai, the National Zoo’s Newest Star

Since her birth in early February, the calf has been growing and beginning to bond with her care team and herd. She will go on view in-person and online starting April 22

a baby elephant splashing in shallow water

Elephant calf Linh Mai stomps in a shallow pool in the Elephant Community Center at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute on February 25. Brett Kuxhausen / Smithsonian

See the Most Adorable Photos of Baby Elephant Linh Mai, the National Zoo’s Newest Star

Since her birth in early February, the calf has been growing and beginning to bond with her care team and herd. She will go on view in-person and online starting April 22

Carlyn Kranking | Associate Web Editor, Science

April 15, 2026

After spending two months growing behind the scenes, baby elephant Linh Mai is finally ready to meet the public.

The young female—the first Asian elephant calf born at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute in nearly 25 years—is playful, vocal and smart, keepers say. She recognizes her name when she’s called, splashes at bath time, screams for her bottle and runs around the Zoo’s Elephant Community Center, ears flapping.

Visitors can see Linh Mai in-person starting on April 22, when the center opens for the first time since her birth. She will also appear on the Elephant Cam live stream, which has been temporarily disabled as the baby bonds with her caretakers and fellow herd members.

“When we have our public debut on Earth Day, she’ll have the opportunity to start exploring all of outside, which will probably blow her mind—lots of new sights, sounds, smells,” says Robbie Clark, the Zoo’s elephant manager. “It’ll be really cool for guests to see a lot of her firsts at that point as well.”

a baby elephant grips a wire fence with her trunk, next to an adult elephant holding a stick in her trunk — Standing beside her “auntie” Swarna, the baby elephant Linh Mai grips the barrier inside the Elephant Community Center with her trunk on April 14. Carlyn Kranking

a baby elephant, trunk held aloft, on sandy ground with part of an adult elephant visible at the left — Linh Mai and Swarna explore the yard at the Zoo’s Elephant Barn. Roshan Patel / Smithsonian

Linh Mai was born on February 2 to 12-year-old mother Nhi Linh and 44-year-old father Spike, who bred in April 2024. From birth, Linh Mai was “spunky,” says chief veterinarian Don Neiffer. “Within ten minutes, she was already vocalizing and trying to stand up. And I’ve never seen that before.”

Keepers initially wanted the mother and baby to bond, but Nhi Linh hasn’t yet warmed up to being a parent. The first-time mom showed some aggression toward her calf: Rather than nursing the baby, she kicked her feet, swung her trunk and threw hay. This behavior is common for new elephant moms, and Nhi Linh has never been around a calf before. Zookeepers decided she wasn’t ready to care for Linh Mai, and they are still working to promote positive interactions between the mother and daughter. In the meantime, they’ve taken charge of the baby’s nutrition.

a baby elephant seen from the front — Linh Mai, pictured at around 10 days old, explores her indoor enclosure. Roshan Patel / Smithsonian

close-up on the side view of the head and front leg of a baby elephant — Linh Mai, pictured at 10 days old or less Roshan Patel / Smithsonian

a small elephant just over waist-high drinks from a bottle of milk held by a male zookeeper — Linh Mai, pictured here within a few weeks of her birth, drinks from a bottle of milk-replacement formula created by her care team. Keepers also gave her microbes from fecal samples of other zoos’ healthy Asian elephant calves, which helped improve her digestion. Roshan Patel / Smithsonian

They bottle-feed the growing elephant every two hours, giving her about four pounds of formula at each feeding, and she’s putting on weight well. Her skin is tight, Neiffer says, which is a sign of health. Linh Mai went from looking like a “wrinkled raisin,” he adds, to a “tight little beach ball.” This week, she weighed in at 462 pounds.

Having humans raise the calf isn’t ideal, since she would develop best in the care of her mother. But “considering the circumstances, the ability to have a role in her development this closely is … something that we’re all cherishing,” Clark says. “We certainly hope we don’t have to do it again, but it’s really cool to know that we have a critical impact in her life.”

Still, one thing the zookeepers can’t teach the baby is how to be an elephant. For that, Linh Mai has been lucky enough to have another member of the herd take on the role of “auntie.” When initially meeting Linh Mai through a barrier, the adult female Swarna showed signs of a positive elephant interaction: flapping ears, chirps, squeaks, urination. That gave keepers the confidence to let the pair meet, unencumbered by a wall.

Clark notes that during their initial interaction, Swarna used her trunk to corral Linh Mai. That was the baby’s “first real, comfortable contact with another elephant, and that let us know Swarna has an idea of what’s supposed to happen here,” he says. “She can’t provide her with milk. She can provide her with the socialization that she needs.”

From Swarna, Linh Mai is learning trunk motor skills and how to communicate. Her dad, Spike, has also shown patience with the calf, Clark adds, so he has been allowed to spend some time with her. Bozie, the dominant female of the herd and an experienced mother, has been acting as an “auntie” as well. She might be able to help facilitate interactions between Linh Mai and Nhi Linh. With the calf’s birth, the Zoo’s herd now totals seven elephants.

a baby elephant grips a wire with her trunk, standing very near an adult elephant curling her own trunk — Linh Mai is improving her trunk dexterity and learning social skills by spending time with Swarna. Carlyn Kranking

an adult and baby elephant walk through a door into a room with sand on the ground — Keepers have been training Linh Mai to “shift,” or move between areas on their cue. Here, she walks ahead of Swarna, but she mostly follows the older elephant’s lead. Smithsonian

an adult and baby elephant walk closely together — Linh Mai and Swarna explore the Elephant Community Center together. Brett Kuxhausen / Smithsonian

Once the baby gets to spend time outside in the sun, it will boost her levels of vitamin D and support her skeletal development, Neiffer says. Within the next few months, she will likely begin eating vegetation. From there, it’s a long path to maturity. Asian elephants begin to reproduce between 8 and 13 years old. They then continue to grow in size and mentally develop until around their late 20s.

Did you know? The slow reproduction of elephants

Asian elephants have some of the longest gestation periods among animals, taking up to 22 months. They give birth only every three to eight years.

Compared to the larger African elephants, Asian elephants “are much more endangered,” says Peter Leimgruber, director of conservation and science at the National Zoo. “We’re talking about a ten-fold difference.” Fewer than 50,000 Asian elephants remain in the wild, and their primary threats are habitat loss and conflicts with humans, who might kill elephants in retaliation for the animals damaging their crops.

An adult and baby elephant in front of a wire barrier between the enclosure and visitors to the zoo — Linh Mai and Swarna move their trunks at the edge of their enclosure. McKenzie Prillaman

a baby elephant with her mouth open and trunk moving toward a rolling toy — Linh Mai pushes a toy with her trunk. Carlyn Kranking

Conservation teams at the Zoo are studying elephants in the wild and in captivity to improve efforts to protect them. Smithsonian researchers have studied Asian elephant genomes and pregnancy-related hormones. By using tracking collars on wild elephants in Myanmar, they’re getting a clearer idea of how the animals utilize their habitats and identifying areas where they may be at risk. The Zoo’s elephants can help with these goals—sometimes the researchers test out the tracking technology on them before it’s used in the wild.

The birth of an elephant is important for the species’ population. “Every baby matters,” Clark says. But it’s also important for scientists’ knowledge about raising the creatures. Before Linh Mai was born, only about three people on her care team had worked on the birth of an elephant, Neiffer says. “Now we have probably 30 more people who can say ‘I’ve experienced an elephant birth.’”

See the Most Adorable Photos of Baby Elephant Linh Mai, the National Zoo’s Newest Star — Baby Linh Mai Smithsonian

an adult and baby elephant indoors — Swarna and Linh Mai in the Elephant Community Center Brett Kuxhausen / Smithsonian

The Zoo’s elephants are ambassadors for their species, allowing visitors to form connections with the animals. When the doors of the Elephant Community Center open to the public next week, Linh Mai will join the rest of her herd in linking people with her wild relatives.

“If we’re not careful, Asian elephants could be extinct in our lifetime,” Clark says. “I certainly don’t want to see that. And I hope when people see her and how cute she is, that they feel the same way.”

See the Most Adorable Photos of Baby Elephant Linh Mai, the National Zoo’s Newest Star

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