Look Back At Linh Mai’s Most Memorable Moments As She Turns 7 Months Old

Nearly seven months ago, the world fell in love with a little Asian elephant named Linh Mai. After being rejected by her mother and needing nutritional assistance, the calf made an extraordinary recovery thanks to the dedication of her care team and elephant “aunties,” who stepped in to raise her. Linh Mai’s resilience, playfulness and curiosity have delighted and inspired visitors to have a deeper appreciation for her endangered species. Celebrate Asian Elephant Awareness Month with a look back at some of her most memorable moments. 

A Star Is Born

On the heels of an intense winter storm that blanketed the Washington, D.C., area in snow and ice, a big bundle of joy was born. After a 21-month-long pregnancy, Asian elephant Nhi Linh gave birth to her first calf—a female—on Feb. 2 at 1:15 a.m. The elephant care team moved the newborn to a nearby enclosure, where they measured her height (38.5 inches tall), weighed her (a whopping 308 pounds), and supported her as she took her first wobbly steps.  

While they were excited to welcome a healthy calf, the team grew concerned when Nhi Linh did not have the gentle reaction toward her they had hoped for. Instead, she showed aggression—swung her trunk, kicked her feet and threw hay at her calf and keepers. Knowing the newborn could be injured or worse, they opted to give Nhi Linh some time and space to settle.  

She and her daughter stayed in adjacent enclosures where they could see, smell, hear and interact with one another, but with a safety barrier in between. Keepers hoped Nhi Linh would accept her daughter with time. When it became clear she was not receptive to nursing, the team stepped in to bottle-feed the calf every two hours, around the clock. 

Being so hands-on during those early days gave the elephant care team a rare glimpse into the calf’s personality. She made her feelings known whenever she was hungry, startled, frustrated, in need of a nap or wanted attention. For such a tiny calf, she made “big girl” vocalizations that reverberated throughout the entire building. Importantly, she was confident and eager to interact with her caretakers and the adult elephants—an attribute that would soon help her social circle grow.

Our “Spirit Blossom” Gets Her Name

Behind the scenes, the elephant care team spent much of their time building relationships with the calf and encouraging positive interactions with the adults in the herd. While she was off exhibit, the elephant team invited visitors to connect with the calf by choosing her name.  

At the Zoo and online, fans could vote for their favorite among four names—all inspired by mom Nhi Linh’s Vietnamese heritage—by donating to the Zoo’s Asian elephant conservation program. When the calf was 11 days old, the public had spoken: Linh Mai, Vietnamese for “spirit blossom,” was the winner! That name received the most donations with $22,885—39% of the vote. Altogether, 1,835 people raised over $58,000 for Asian elephant conservation—a win for the calf and her endangered species. 

Swarna Steps Up 

As experts in Asian elephant care and behavior, the team knew the best way for Linh Mai to learn how to be an elephant was to be around other elephants. Because mom Nhi Linh and grandma Trong Nhi were still displaying some aggressive behaviors towards the calf, the team turned to an experienced elephant auntie—Swarna—to teach her that important lesson. 

Prior to Linh Mai’s birth, Swarna lived in a herd with Spike (Linh Mai’s father) and Maharani, another adult female. While the three of them were at Calgary Zoo, Maharani had some difficulty parenting her calf, and Swarna stepped in to help. Since Linh Mai needed an adult elephant to learn from, the elephant care team hoped Swarna would be willing to reprise her auntie role. 

From the moment Swarna met Linh Mai at the “howdy” barrier, she displayed exactly the kind of positive behaviors the elephant care team hoped to see. Swarna gently explored the calf with her trunk and even followed her around for a bit. Based on these positive interactions, the team opened the door between their enclosures, enabling them to meet face-to-face for the first time. They were thrilled to see Swarna calmly stand beside Linh Mai as she explored the enclosure and drank her morning bottle. 

From that day on, Linh Mai’s relationship with Swarna blossomed into something special. Positive interactions—like Linh Mai scratching her back on her auntie’s belly—went a long way toward building bonds between the pair. At 52 years old, Swarna does her best to keep up with Linh Mai—who is a bundle of energy! She continues to give Linh Mai some independence while staying close enough to keep an eye on her. Thanks in large part to auntie Swarna’s influence, the animal care team was encouraged to see Bozie, Spike and Maharani show interest in the calf, too. 

Formula—With a Touch of Fecal Slurry—Helps Linh Mai Thrive

Early in Linh Mai’s life, her gut needed a little help adapting to new foods and the needs of her growing body. Once hand-rearing began, Linh Mai experienced diarrhea and weight loss. Working together, the elephant team, Department of Nutrition Science and Center for Conservation Genomics came up with a plan to help: formula and feces. 

The Nutrition team switched to a different Asian elephant milk replacer, and it turned things around for Linh Mai. They saw rapid improvements in her overall health, energy and weight gains—all evidence the new formula was giving Linh Mai the nutrients she needed.  

While the Nutrition team optimized Linh Mai’s formula, the Center for Conservation Genomics’ team thought about ways to help Linh Mai’s gut microbiome—the microscopic bacteria that help animals digest their food and fight off diseases. They decided to use a treatment called a fecal microbiota transplant (FMT), which uses feces from a healthy animal as medicine for a sick animal.  

Colleagues at Columbus Zoo in Ohio were happy to help. Their Asian elephant calf, a 4-month-old male named Ollie, was healthy, the right age and was drinking his mom’s milk—all of which meant he was a great donor for Linh Mai’s FMT.  

National Zoo staff made a “fecal slurry” from Ollie’s poop. Over the course of 2 weeks, staff added the slurry to Linh Mai’s bottles, giving her gut the good microbes she needed to properly digest the formula. Even after the FMTs ended, Ollie’s microbes continued to stick around in Linh Mai’s gut. Together, the formula and feces helped Linh Mai get back on track.  

Dad and Daughter Time 

An exciting meet-and-greet took place March 3, when Linh Mai met her father, Spike, for the first time. Spike was calm and content when he entered the Elephant Barn. When he noticed Linh Mai on the other side of the howdy barrier, he initially seemed a bit surprised. At 13,250 pounds and 10.5 feet tall at the shoulder, Spike is considerably taller than Linh Mai. He backed up to get a better look at her tiny frame. Linh Mai was aware of her dad’s enormous presence but didn’t seem bothered at all. Swarna, who is best friends with Spike, also remained calm and comfortable while Linh Mai and Spike stood calmly near each other at the barrier.  

Splish Splash, Linh Mai’s Taking A Bath 

Whether Linh Mai is dashing through a stream of hose spray, splashing in a shallow pool or dunking herself beneath a bubbly bath, her enthusiasm and excitement for playing in water is pure pachyderm joy!  

Behind the scenes in the Elephant Barn, keepers placed a collapsible pool in Linh Mai’s enclosure. At just a few inches deep, the water is high enough for the calf to wade in, but low enough that she can raise her head or trunk above the surface. Keepers occasionally add bubbles to the pool, giving her interesting scents and textures to explore. Linh Mai enjoys zooming through the pool and plopping down on her side, creating a cannonball-like wave that spills soapy water all over the rubber floor.  

All that activity can tucker a young elephant out, so after playing, Linh Mai often takes a nap on the sandy shore in the Elephant Community Center. Getting “dirty” right after a bath serves an important purpose for elephants. Asian elephants have short, coarse hair all over their bodies that offers little to no protection from the elements. To keep cool, prevent sunburn and ward off biting insects, elephants gather “sunscreen” (a mixture of sand, dirt and hay) with their trunk and toss it onto their back.  

Young elephants—like Linh Mai—learn this "sand-dusting" behavior by watching older members of their herd. Some elephants apply this sunscreen more diligently than others. Soapy baths help encourage our elephants to sand-dust. As they air-dry, their skin becomes itchy, prompting them to re-apply the soothing sunscreen.  

Linh Mai Explores the Great Outdoors 

Rambunctious. Sassy. Playful. Intelligent. At two months old, Linh Mai’s personality shined! She even recognized her name when keepers called to her. This was an important first step in training Linh Mai to voluntarily participate in her own care.  

The first behavior Linh Mai learned was how to “target,” or move toward a buoy on the end of a dowel. When she did so, keepers pressed a clicker to let her know she did a good job. With some practice, she learned to follow the target and shift from one area to another.  

As Linh Mai’s attention span increases, she will learn more complex behaviors that help the elephant care team closely monitor her behavior, weight and body condition. Already, she stands on a scale for weekly weigh-ins (and, as of Aug. 24, weighs 930 pounds). Eventually, she will learn how to present different body parts so keepers and veterinarians can examine her up close and participate in diagnostic procedures, like blood draws. 

Linh Mai’s bond with auntie Swarna became stronger, too. Rather than running far ahead of Swarna as she did in the early days, Linh Mai hung back with her, waiting for the “ok’ to move forward from her herdmate. She began following Swarna’s lead, learning how to socialize and communicate like an elephant.  

The Public Says “Hi” to Linh Mai 

Linh Mai made her public debut on Earth Day to the delight of thousands of Zoo visitors. Even those who weren’t at the Zoo joined in all the ele-fun via the Elephant Cam, which is curated by a trained group of volunteers who follow Linh Mai's every move.  

The Cam serves as an important tool for our animal care team. Keepers routinely review footage to check on herd dynamics and individual sleep patterns. They even use it to tell whose poop is whose, enabling Zoo veterinarians and scientists to analyze samples and study each elephant's health. 

Bozie Makes Three . . .

May and June brought a new herd member for our little spirit blossom to get to know—Bozie! Although the pair had some interactions through the “howdy” barriers when Linh Mai was a newborn, they had never before shared an enclosure.  

Unlike Swarna who took to her auntie role right away, Bozie initially seemed a bit uncertain around Linh Mai. When they met face-to-face for the first time, the calf let Bozie know she wanted to socialize with her, in her own endearing way.  

One memorable morning, Linh Mai calmly approached Bozie. With a demure shuffle sideways, the calf leaned against Bozie’s trunk. At first, Bozie seemed unsure about the encounter and took a few steps back. But Linh Mai was persistent! She approached Bozie again, reached up and touched her auntie’s trunk with her own. That small gesture let Bozie know Linh Mai wanted to interact with her and became a positive turning point in their relationship. From that moment on, Linh Mai had another auntie she could look to for socialization and comfort.  

Linh Mai enjoys spending time with aunties Swarna and Bozie, and she is also quite independent. If she does not want to do what they are doing, she finds ways to entertain herself. Linh Mai’s favorite toys include giant buoys and boomer balls. She has a lot of fun pushing them all over the habitat and trying to crawl over them!

... And Spike Makes Four!

Spike also spends time with Linh Mai, Swarna and Bozie a few days a week. Male Asian elephants do not have a role in raising calves, so he does not seek out interactions with her. However, if she approaches him, he stands very still and doesn’t seem to mind her exploring around him. Keepers say it is enriching for both father and daughter that they get to spend this quality time together, even if their bond is not as strong as the ones Linh Mai has with Swarna and Bozie. 

Linh Mai, Medical Pioneer

In June, the elephant care team tested a novel approach to helping Linh Mai develop immunity to elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV), the leading cause of death in young Asian elephants. Linh Mai’s unique circumstances created an opportunity to carefully expose her to EEHV-1A before she reaches one year old—the age when EEHV poses the greatest risk. The goal is for her to begin developing her own immunity while she still has strong antibodies from her mother to fight the infection.  

Elephants intermittently shed EEHV in their trunk secretions over the course of their life, so the elephant team does weekly “trunk washes” to be able to detect viral shed. During a trunk wash, keepers ask an elephant to present their trunk to their hand. Using a syringe, they inject saline into a nostril, then ask the elephant to raise their trunk for 30 seconds. On our cue, they then blow the solution into a sterile bag. Keepers pour the sample in a test tube and send it to our EEHV lab. Within hours, they learn if the virus is being shed and how much.  

To inoculate Linh Mai, the team administers fresh or frozen-thawed trunk wash samples from the adult elephants directly into Linh Mai’s trunk. Then, they closely monitor her health and immune response. While Linh Mai’s health and welfare comes first, this approach could benefit other young Asian elephants living under human care and improve EEHV management in the future. Get a behind-the-scenes look at the team’s efforts from PBS NewsHour.

The Pachyderm Paddle 

At 5 months old, Linh Mai reached a major milestone: baby’s first swim! Our brave “spirit blossom” entered the 5.5-foot-deep end of the outdoor pool for the very first time July 15. Prior to that, the deepest Linh Mai had ventured into the pool was about 2.5 feet, in the Elephant Community Center.  

In true herd mentality, Linh Mai waited until all elephant care team “lifeguards”—curator and elephant manager Robbie Clark and assistant curators Jason Gue and Megan Mrozinski—were in the pool before taking the pachyderm plunge. The team cheered her on, held her trunk above water (like a snorkel) and gently guided her to the shallow side of the pool—before she dove in again!  

Keeper Amanda Bobyack, who watched the pool party from a nearby keeper observation area, said learning to swim and navigate to shore is important for Linh Mai. This milestone was pivotal for allowing the calf to explore outdoor habitats with pools safely when she is with her aunties, Swarna and Bozie, and dad Spike.  

Can't get enough of Linh Mai? Neither can we. Come say ‘hi’ to her and the rest of the herd! Reserve your free Zoo entry pass here. Love Asian elephants? Your donation helps protect wildlife around the world through Smithsonian conservation and research programs. Learn more or make a donation.