TOLEDO, Ohio — It's a boy! Well actually, it's a girl according to a new baby elephant update from the Toledo Zoo Saturday morning.
According to the social media post, the zoo's animal caregivers had been closely monitoring the development of baby boy Kirk when they discovered that he is actually a she.
The zoo states that it was able to take a closer look at Kirk's reproductive organs, with experts discovering what they thought were male reproductive organs were actually female reproductive organs.
Addressing the elephant in the room, the zoo explains that while it was a surprising find, it's not all that uncommon amongst elephant herds.
In light of the news, the Toledo Zoo has decided to change the baby elephant's name to Kirkja. Since Kirkja is a female, she can remain with her mother, Renee, at the zoo for the foreseeable future. This is due to there no longer being a need to remove her from the herd once she reaches sexual maturity, like the zoo had planned if the baby elephant was male.
The zoo also published an update on Kirkja's health, noting she now weighs 439 pounds. When Kirkja was born back in February, she weighed a whopping 240 pounds.
The Toledo Zoo said all of these developments are a positive for baby elephant Kirkja, and it's excited to share her journey at the zoo with the community for years to come.