Former Calgary zoo elephant Swarna steps in as ‘auntie’ at new home

A baby elephant without a mom to lean on in the heart of the U.S. is being carried along by a former resident of the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo. (Courtesy Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute)

A baby elephant without a mom to lean on in the heart of the U.S. is being carried along by a former resident of the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo.

Swarna, who moved from Calgary to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute in Washington, D.C., in 2014, has stepped in as an “auntie” to Linh Mai.

The U.S. zoo said in a social media post Swarna is helping the two-month-old “learn how to be an elephant.”

And staff say it’s working — Linh Mai is picking up on “how to socialize and communicate.”

“We’re starting to see her follow Swarna’s lead,” elephant manager Robbie Clark wrote in a report.

“Rather than running far ahead of Swarna as she did in the early days, Linh Mai now hangs back with her, waiting for the OK to move forward.”

According to the U.S. zoo, Linh Mai had a sickly start to life.

And the U.S. zoo says she has yet to be accepted by her mother.

Linh Mai is now thriving, the U.S. zoo says, and developing very quickly with Swarna.

“It’s been really cool to see their relationship blossom,” Clark wrote.

“Even though Linh Mai is not with her mother,” Clark wrote, “she is full of life and tons of fun.”

Linh Mai will make her public debut on April 22.