A new baby elephant is now greeting visitors at the Fort Worth Zoo — and he has a Texas-sized name.
The zoo announced this week that Sam Houston, a male Asian elephant calf born April 1, made his public debut Thursday at Elephant Springs.
The calf weighed 285 pounds at birth, stood 36 inches tall, and is the largest elephant calf born in the zoo’s history, according to a release from the zoo.
Sam Houston, the Fort Worth Zoo’s newest Asian elephant calf, was born on April 1, 2026. (Fort Worth Zoo )
The calf was born to 13-year-old Bluebell at 5:31 a.m. and was standing within six minutes and nursing within an hour, according to the release. Sam Houston is Bluebell’s second calf and the son of Romeo, 33, making him the younger brother of 3-year-old Travis and the half-sibling of 8-month-old Lady Bird and 4-year-old Brazos.
The calf has spent his first week’s bonding with Bluebell behind the scenes while learning to navigate his environment, including swimming and interacting with other members of the herd, according to the release.
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Guests can see Sam Houston in the main Elephant Springs habitat daily from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., according to the release. Afternoon naps remain part of the calf’s daily routine.
“Asian elephants are endangered, with fewer than 40,000 individuals remaining in the wild, and their populations continue to decline,” Ramona Bass, chair of the Fort Worth Zoo Board of Directors, said in the release. “Each birth is a step forward, reflecting decades of dedicated care and specialized expertise.”
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Sam Houston is the fourth Asian elephant calf born at the Fort Worth Zoo since 2021. The births are part of broader conservation and reproductive research efforts tied to Elephant Springs and the zoo’s new Center for Applied Reproductive & Emerging Sciences, or CARES Lab, which focuses heavily on elephant research, the zoo said.
The Fort Worth Zoo first welcomed an Asian elephant calf in 1998 with the birth of Bluebonnet and later helped establish the International Elephant Foundation, a global elephant conservation organization, according to the release.
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