Zoo Atlanta prepares for baby elephant's arrival

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Photos of Zoo Atlanta elephant Tara, who is pregnant, and construction work for baby-proofing the elephant habitat.

Zoo Atlanta's Dottie (left) is 12 months into her pregnancy and construction crews are busy baby-proofing the elephant habitat. The bottom bar on the metal gate was added to keep the baby safely inside. At right is Tara, one of the calf's aunties.

Baby-proofing the elephant habitat will continue until October and is expected to cost in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Zoo Atlanta has, among other things, added 400 tons of dirt, filled in moats and made the pool more shallow.

Adam Stone, an assistant curator for large mammals at Zoo Atlanta, feeds celery and carrots to Dottie and Tara, two of the zoo's three African elephants. Dottie's baby is due in April 2009.

Preschool students watch as construction work continues on the elephant exhibit at Zoo Atlanta. "We were looking for elephants; we found Bobcats," said Rebecca Ashburn, an Atlanta mother who was touring the zoo with the students. The adult elephants are kept out of the yard during the work.

Dottie's meal plan includes more bamboo and celery, but fewer sweet potatoes and alfalfa, the cotton candy of the elephant diet. She's lost weight but will pack on about 600 pounds by the end of the 22-month gestation period.

In this photo from February, a pregnant Dottie struts her stuff at Zoo Atlanta.

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Zoo Atlanta's Dottie (left) is 12 months into her pregnancy and construction crews are busy baby-proofing the elephant habitat. The bottom bar on the metal gate was added to keep the baby safely inside. At right is Tara, one of the calf's aunties.

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