Münchener Tierpark Hellabrunn : Latest news on baby elephant Otto

'If Otto stepped on your foot, it would be very painful,' says zookeeper Daniel Materna humorously. 'But that's unlikely to happen as we only work with Otto - as with all other elephants - in protected contact. This does not mean that we have no contact with him at all. On the contrary, he has now become so used to us that he comes running up to us in the morning when he sees us, because he likes to have his trunk petted.'

Otto's first weigh-in was also done in protected contact, which thanks to the baby elephant's curiosity went very smoothly. The little elephant stood confidently on the large weighing scales, allowing the animal care team to record his weight without a hitch: Otto now weighs 192 kg, almost double his birth weight. By contrast, his mum Temi currently weighs 3,965 kg. She had lost around 150 kg after giving birth, but has since put on a few kilos again.

Since the birth, life with the new baby in the Elephant House has settled into a daily routine: Otto now spends a lot of time with his mum Temi and his two aunts Mangala and Panang in the large sand pit. There is always something for him to discover here - such as a large tractor tyre. In addition, he likes to stand on a small rock, which he does quite often. 'He does this to show the others: 'look how tall I am!'' explains Materna. Otto also carefully watches how the adults break long sticks into shorter pieces with their feet and trunks in order to chew on them. He tries to copy their behaviour with smaller sticks, constantly honing his trunk skills in the process.

While the adult elephants spend hours outside during the day enjoying the wintry weather, it will take a while before Otto is allowed outdoors. 'At the moment, it's too cold for Otto and we also have to be sure that Otto knows he should come back in when the gate opens - this is something that requires a little training,' adds Materna.

To find out more about what baby Otto gets up to every day in the Elephant House, listen to the next podcast episode of 'Mia san Tier: The Zoo Podcast from Hellabrunn' this Friday, 22 January 2021.

For more information and links to the podcast: https://www.hellabrunn.de/podcasts/aktuelles/