Watch moment critically endangered Sumatran elephant calf is born

A zoo keeper in Spain has caught the moment a baby elephant was born.

The birth of the calf was captured at Zoo Aquarium de Madrid, and was described by the park as “a spectacular delivery lasting just twenty minutes”.

The zoo said the mother, Cynthia, was supported throughout the process by the other three females in the group who remained by her side, wrapping their trunks around her and surrounding the newborn while emitting loud vocalisations, which were described as a social behaviour characteristic of Sumatran elephants.

A zoo keeper in Spain has caught the moment a baby elephant was born. Zoo Aquarium de Madrid

This footage shows the moment the calf is born and its first interactions with its mother as it takes wobbly steps.

The newborn, which weighs approximately 80 to 90 kilograms, took only about half an hour to stand up and take its first tentative steps, the zoo added.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the global population of Asian elephants is around 52,000.

Among its three subspecies, the Sumatran elephant is the most threatened, having lost nearly 69% of its habitat in just three decades.

The greatest threat to the species’ survival is agricultural expansion, deforestation and the fragmentation of Indonesia’s tropical forests, the press release from the zoo said.