Puebla, Mexico - Last week, Africam Safari, a Wildlife Conservation Park in Puebla, introduced the first African elephant to be born in their menagerie. Africam Safari houses 5000 animals of almost 450 species from every continent in the world and is the largest elephant habitat in Latin America.

Five years ago, the park managed to rescue 9 African elephants from Namibia, Africa, thus saving their lives and giving them a new home. Since then they have received the highest quality veterinary care to keep the herd in optimum conditions, which led to the inevitable reproduction of the species.

According to the park's director, the male calf was born on May 16, 2017, and currently stands 80 centimeters high and weighs a healthy 110 kilograms.

"The birth of this calf is a source of joy and pride for all of us who are part of Africam Safari. It is the reflection of the effort that the team has put forth to protect and preserve this majestic species. Now we glimpse a ray of hope in saving the African elephants from extinction," said Frank Carlos Camacho, CEO of Africam Safari.

"The efforts we've made to give the elephants the best care and to encourage reproduction have been titanic, but a titanic species that's about to disappear deserves titanic efforts," he added.

The yet to be named calf is very important to Carlos and his team because the African elephant is one of the most threatened animal species in the world. "Some 33,000 elephants are hunted and killed every year by poachers. Since the turn of the 20th century, less than 8% of African elephants living in the wild have survived," he stressed.

"This young male will be part of a worldwide recovery program through which elephants born in the park will be seen - in the future - back in Africa, in protected sites," he said. Meanwhile, a team of experts is monitoring the calf's development 24/7 and the whole herd is being very protective of its newest member, who is being nurtured by its mother and another cow.