Dublin Zoo is throwing a first birthday party for three of its elephants this weekend.
Kavi, Ashoka, Samiya were born at the zoo last summer, and have become one of the zoo's most playful residents.
Director Leo Oosterweghel said “The elephant calves still amaze us every day. Their births were such an important occasion both for us at Dublin Zoo and the international breeding programme.
“To have three successful births within such a short period of time was simply extraordinary and something we are very proud of.
Kavi, celebrated his first birthday on 17th July, and Ashoka will celebrate his on 19th August and Samiya will be one on 17th September.
It seems the Gardai are excited for the celebrations.
If you’re going to the big birthday in the @Dublinzoo make sure you lock your car and keep your valuables safe, put them in the trunk maybe!
— An Garda Síochána (@GardaTraffic) August 21, 2015
Kavi now weighs almost 700kg, or the weight of a fully grown dairy cow. Little brother Ashoka weighs in at 500kg while little sister Samiya is a dainty 450kg. At birth they weighed in at 80kg, 70kg and 68kg respectively.
All the calves are still drinking from their mothers and will do until they reach about five years of age or another calf is born. Their appetite is increasing and they have begun to enjoy solids like hay and fruit.
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Their favourite foods include bananas and apples. The calves all love to pile on top of one another to sleep. Their big sister Asha, now eight years old, keeps an eye on them. The keepers can see from their night cameras that the calves like to wake the whole elephant house in the morning by jumping on their mothers!
They sleep for an average of six hours a night and take regular naps during the day, particularly on hot days when they tire themselves out playing with the water.
Kavi is a brave little bull who likes to follow his father Upali. Ashoka started off a little shyer but now that he’s getting bigger he’s challenging his brother more each day.
As their confidence increases, they are learning how to use their voices more and more to communicate
SO. CUTE!
