On Feb. 2, 2026, Smithsonian’s National Zoo, located in Washington, D.C. welcomed its first newborn Asian elephant in over 25 years. According to the zoo’s directors Brandie Smith, John Mars, and Adrienne Mars, the newborn calf is a female and so far has no name yet. 

The parents of this adorable newborn are the 12-year-old mother, Nhi Linh, and 44-year-old father, Spike. The calf is Nhi Linh’s first offspring, according to Wtop. 

The baby elephant was born at 1:15 a.m. According to CNN, a neonatal exam revealed that the calf was “healthy, alert and bright-eyed”. It weighed about 308 pounds and stood 38.5 inches in height. “She looks like a tiny woolly mammoth. I think it’s because she’s so fuzzy. But she’s amazing and she’s only been here for a day, and she’s already so much more confident in everything,” said Brandie Smith, quoted by Wtop. The Smithsonian’s Zoo has over six adult Asian elephants, plus the newborn calf; these elephants are identified as an endangered species, with only about 52,000 Asian elephants left in the wild. The reason why Asian elephants have become endangered is mostly due to human expansion and habitat loss. Asian elephant pregnancies last 18-22 months on average this can cause a major effect to their population if they have unsuccessful births , according to Sustainable Travel International. 

Only a few Asian countries have either a high or low population of elephants. Vietnam has 118 Asian elephants, Nepal has 127, and China has 300 Asian elephants remaining; these are just a few of the countries that have the lowest number of elephants. India has over 29,964 Asian elephants, Sri Lanka has 5,879, and Thailand has 3,234 wild elephants as of today. The chart below displays the countries that have the highest population of Asian elephants. 

Like presented earlier in the article, this is Nhi Lanh’s first calf; she had a 21-month pregnancy. Spike has fathered three other calves at other zoos, but sadly, none of them survived.

“Because Nhi Lanh and Spike’s genes are not well represented in zoos, their calf will help strengthen the genetic diversity of the Asian elephant population in North America and around the world,” said the zoo, quoted by CNN.  

The zoo is also allowing the public to name the newborn elephant, there are four options for the names; Linh Mai, Thao Nhi, Tu Anh, or Tuyet. For people to vote, they must donate $5 to the zoo and the voting ends on Feb. 13, according to Smithsonian’s National Zoo. This baby elephant might bring a chance to repopulate the Asian elephant population and save the species.