Calf

A leggy baby gazelle is the newest part of the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore. The addra gazelle calf, named Elvira, was born the morning of October 30. The healthy baby weighed 11 pounds. Her parents are Pearl, who's 9, and Makuru, who's four. But because Pearl is showing no interest in Elvira, zoo staff has decided to hand-raise her. Peal gave birth to another calf, Ray-Ray, earlier this year.  “Because the calf is so significant to the overall population of this endangered species, we decided that a quick intervention was necessary in order to keep her healthy,"  Mike McClure, general curator of the Zoo, said in a statement.

A fuzzy baby Asian elephant, who hadn't been named when this picture was shot on Oct. 20, clings to its mother, Azizah. It was just two days after the elephant's birth at Whipsnade Zoo in southern England. The calf weighed in at 104 kg, making it the smallest elephant born at the zoo.  

Animal trainer Deirdre Weadock has worked at the National Aquarium long enough to have seen her share of life and death, but she'll tell you this has been the roughest week of her career. Losing one dolphin, then another, within days. "You can't really describe what this feels like to other people," Weadock said Sunday, her voice breaking. "I guess any parent can relate. " On Saturday night, the second of the aquarium's two calves died in the arms of the aquarium's medical workers as they tried desperately to save her. The first had been found dead in the pool on Tuesday.

The gentle bottlenose dolphin that was the mother of the first dolphin calf to be born at the National Aquarium in Baltimore in 1992 died over the weekend after doctors and technicians worked for about a year to nurse her through an array of illnesses. Aquarium officials estimated that the dolphin, named Shiloh, was 31 years old. "It's an incredibly difficult time" for members of the aquarium staff who care for the dolphins, said Brent Whitaker, deputy director of biological programs at the aquarium.

Move over, Justin Bieber — another Justin has trumped your arrival in Timonium. A Holstein calf was born Sunday afternoon at the University of Maryland birthing center at the Maryland State Fairgrounds, and fair officials said there were no surprises when a group of more than 100 children were tasked with naming the newborn. "Justin," the calf — named after Bieber, who will play a sold-out show at the fairgrounds tonight — was born just after 3:20 p.m. and weighed in at 80 lbs. Justin's mother, who had been in labor since around noon, doesn't have a name.

An 11-day-old dolphin calf born at the National Aquarium in Baltimore died Sunday morning, shortly after staff first noticed it was breathing irregularly. The cause of death has not been determined for the 30-pound, 2- to 3-foot-long calf that was born March 10 to an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin named Jade. A necropsy was performed at the Johns Hopkins University's comparative pathology lab by National Aquarium veterinarians and Hopkins staff. Aquarium officials were awaiting test results from cultures, which could take one to two weeks, according to a statement from the aquarium.

Maryland health officials are expanding their search for people who had contact with a rabid 6-week-old Jersey calf at a Prince George's County educational center. Authorities say that in addition to about 70 children who recently visited the Hard Bargain Farm Environmental Center in Accokeek, they believe that other visitors include residents of Prince George's, Charles and Montgomery counties and Washington. "Local health departments are reaching out to all known contacts who've visited the farm during this time period and we need the public's help to make sure no potential contact is missed," Dr. Katherine Feldman, chief veterinarian for the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, said in a statement.