Samu, our young elephant, is celebrating his fourth birthday today. However, we’ll hold the actual birthday event on Saturday at exactly 11:30 AM. Visitors are warmly invited to join the celebration.
Elephants have been part of our Zoo’s history for almost 150 years. The first elephant arrived here in the 1870s, and it belonged to the African species. However, for nearly 130 years now, we have been working exclusively with Asian elephants. The first successful elephant breeding at our Zoo happened between the two World Wars, and since then, several calves have been born here. That said, there was also a long period—more than fifty years—when no baby elephants were born in Budapest.
In recent years, we’ve had calves more regularly, thanks to our two adult breeding elephants. Angele, the female, came to the Zoo in 2010, and Assam, the male, in 2009. So far, they have had three calves together. The youngest is Samu, whose birthday we’re celebrating now. At the moment, Samu, Angele, and Assam are the only elephants living at our Zoo, since Samu’s older brother, Arun, moved to the Szeged Zoo in 2023.
Arun was still here when Samu was born on April 24, 2021, in the early morning hours. In the footage recorded with a night-vision camera, we can clearly see Arun showing great interest in his newborn sibling. While the video may appear to show Angele kicking the calf right after birth, this is normal behavior among elephants. Mothers often help the newborn break free from the amniotic sac this way. If that doesn’t happen, the calf could suffocate.
Samu spent his first days inside the stall where he was born. We first let him into the outdoor enclosure when he was three days old. A short video from that day shows him staying very close to his mother, while Arun kept a watchful eye on them, sometimes from nearby, sometimes from a distance. In several scenes, both mother and brother are seen surrounding Samu protectively, walking together toward the neighboring enclosure, where the father, Assam, resides.
The young elephant quickly became a visitor favorite. We also regularly shared videos showing his daily life, including his great enthusiasm for splashing around in the elephant pool.
Before he even turned two, Samu faced one of the biggest challenges of his life. He became seriously ill due to a dangerous pathogen. The disease was caused by the elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV), which is one of the leading causes of death in young elephants, both in the wild and in zoos. Our veterinarians and keepers literally fought to save Samu’s life. Their tireless efforts paid off—Samu survived the infection and has been completely healthy ever since.
We will celebrate Samu’s fourth birthday on Saturday, April 26. Everyone who would like to join us is warmly welcome at 11:30 AM at the elephant enclosure.
