It has been a month since a baby elephant was born at Maruyama Zoo in Sapporo. Why was Maruyama Zoo the first in Japan to successfully give birth to an elephant? Let's look back at the history of zoos and elephants. An elephant stretches out its long trunk to interact with visitors. Maruyama Zoo once had two elephants, Hanako and Lily. They were popular for their cute appearance, but in 1999, Lily injured her leg... and in 2007, Hanako also passed away at the age of 60 due to old age. Visitor) "They are animals that have lived with the history of the zoo." After that, Maruyama Zoo was without an elephant for over 10 years. However... Maruyama Zoo Director Osamu Kato (at the time)) "We received many opinions from citizens that we wanted another elephant in Maruyama, so we are happy that we were able to bring one after 11 years." To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Myanmar, four Asian elephants will be donated to Sapporo City. This was the result of Sapporo City's negotiations with Myanmar over two years after receiving approximately 30,000 signatures calling for an elephant in the zoo. Asian elephants are an endangered species and are prohibited from being imported or exported except for research and breeding. Therefore, one male and three females were brought in at once, taking into consideration the elephants' tendency to give birth and raise their young in groups. Reporter Tatsuta Yoshihisa) "The elephants are moving around actively in the new facility. Maruyama Zoo has decided to adopt a method of rearing the elephants without people entering the area where they are." In order to raise the four elephants, the zoo spent a total of 3 billion yen to build a new elephant house. "Semi-indirect rearing," where the elephants are kept in contact with each other through a fence, has been introduced. This is a new rearing method that has been adopted in Europe and the United States from the perspective of animal welfare. Maruyama Zoo Asian Elephant Manager Kobayashi Shinya) "The concept is to raise both humans and elephants safely without causing stress." There was a line of 500 people for the first public viewing of the elephants at Maruyama Zoo in 12 years. Visitor) "I'm glad we waited" Masao Kosuge, Advisor, Maruyama Zoo, Sapporo City Environment Bureau) "The ultimate goal is breeding" In 2021, female "Pearl" and male "Sheesh" began living together with the goal of breeding. An ultrasound scan in October last year confirmed the pregnancy. About 10 months later... "Something's coming out! Something's coming out! My water's broken!" With fellow elephants watching, a female baby elephant was born safely on the 19th of last month. This was the first time in Japan that an elephant has successfully given birth in "semi-indirect captivity," a system in which the baby is kept close to nature. One month after birth, the baby continues to grow healthily. Shinya Kobayashi, in charge of Asian elephants at Maruyama Zoo: "I hope that in the end, they will be able to live together and form a group of four females. I think that this is not the goal but just the start, so I would like to continue this so that the other elephants can continue as well." ▼HTB Hokkaido News Official Websitehttps://www.htb.co.jp/news/ ▼For information and video submissions, please click here: "Recommended!! Video Post" https://www.htb.co.jp/news/info.html ▼HTB Hokkaido News SNS Twitter / htb_news Facebook / htbnews TikTok / htb_hokkaidonews #MaruyamaZoo #SapporoCity #Elephant #BabyElephant #Semi-IndirectBreeding #HTBHokkaidoNews #Hokkaido #News