ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Rozie, the Asian elephant at the Albuquerque BioPark, is expecting. The 31-year-old Asian elephant is more than a year along, but she’s still got several months to go.

Amber Alink is the elephant curator at the BioPark. She and the other caretakers had suspicious before Rozie’s test came back positive. 

“We noticed she likes to eat bark that insects have burrowed into. That’s one of the funny things we’ve noticed, or she likes to swim in the pool a little bit more,” said Alink. 

The father could be the BioPark’s bull, Albert. But they’ll have to do a paternity test to be sure.

“We gave them multiple different opportunities and because that didn’t result in any pregnancies, we decided to help make sure we took our breeding recommendations, and do artificial insemination too,” Alink said. 

This is Rozie’s fourth pregnancy. The care for this calf will be different because her three others, Jazmin, Daisy, and Thorn, all died from an elephant herpes virus that hit our zoo’s herd. 

The new baby will be monitored closely from day one, and will start getting tested for the virus at a year old.

“The ABQ BioPark has done something wonderful, and that is to help us open our own EEHV labs here on grounds. Which is going to be really crucial in getting results that are turned around and available to us within hours instead of within days, and we’re working right now on opening that lab up,” said Alink. 

A safe delivery for Rozie isn’t just a success for the zoo, but for the endangered Asian elephant population.

“Every single additional elephant that we can have just makes sure that population can be sustained and be around for generations to come,” Alink said. 

New Mexicans will be on baby watch, with Rozie’s calf expected sometime between December and March. 

“It’s just so special for Albuquerque to have that and for our community to celebrate that, it’s just fantastic,” said Alink.

Rozie will deliver her calf at the BioPark. All the female elephants will be with her as she gives birth. It’s how they would do it in the wild, as they learn from and protect each other.