Two baby elephants now due in the summer of 2011

Dec. 27, 2007 -- Raja's family Maliha (right) and Ellie (left) celebrate Raja's 15th birthday tearing apart a birthday box filled with goodies like hay, popcorn, and peanuts at the St. Louis Zoo.

Ellie, a 38-year-old Asian elephant at the St. Louis Zoo, is expecting her third baby.

The Zoo announced this morning that Ellie is due in late summer 2011. An elephant pregnancy lasts about 22 months.

Ellie has two daughters -- 3-year-old Maliha, and 14-year-old Rani, who is also pregnant. Rani is expected to deliver in mid-summer 2011.

Raja, the first elephant born at the St. Louis Zoo, is the father of Ellie's baby and Rani's baby. Raja is 17 years old.

"We are looking forward to this pregnancy," Martha Fischer, curator of mammals at the zoo, said in a release Monday morning. "Ellie has proven to be such a good mother, and we are optimistic that everything will go well."

The Zoo is getting the moms ready for the births.

"We are developing exercise plans with stretches and exercises specifically designed to get these elephants ready for the rigorous delivery," Fischer said.

A newborn elephant weighs about 250 to 350 pounds.

Ellie and Rani are getting regular ultrasound exams. Vets will learn the gender of the babies through blood tests soon.

Jim Alexander and Carolyn at the St. Louis Zoo in 1968-69