Elephantastic Baby Watch

Oregon is excitedly watching the pregnancy of 13-year-old Asian elephant Rose-Tu. With a gestation period of 20 to 22 months, Rose-Tu will likely give birth in September or October 2008. Tusko, a 13,500-pound, 36-year-old Asian elephant, is the father.

In the fall of 2006, Tusko was introduced to Rose-Tu in hopes the two would make a love connection. The zoo monitors the female elephants' ovulatory cycles closely and planned the introduction for the appropriate time.

The Oregon Zoo has a renowned breeding program for endangered Asian elephants. More than 20 elephants have been born at the zoo beginning with Packy in 1962. From 1994 to 2005, the zoo suspended its breeding program because it lacked the space to house four bull elephants. The zoo could not risk the 50 percent chance of having a male, which would grow up to be a powerful bull elephant with no home to place him.

There is a 40 percent infant mortality rate among captive Asian elephants. There is no reliable data on the infant mortality rate in the wild.