It's normally buses that don't arrive for ages and then three come along at once.
But at Colchester Zoo that adage could apply to elephants.
As if baby Kito's recent birth and Zola being halfway through her pregnancy wasn't enough, Rosa is now expecting as well.
Bull Tembo - who fathered Kito through artificial insemination and mated naturally with Zola - has again proved his potency with Rosa.
If all goes according to plan, Rosa's calf will be born in Easter 2004.
Zoo curator Anthony Tropeano joked: "Obviously, we are all delighted - but we're just wondering what we're going to do with them all."
Regular monitoring of the female elephants at Colchester Zoo by a German reproductive centre allowed keepers to introduce Tembo to the females at exactly the right time.
Zola is expecting her baby sometime in December and the not-so-little Kito, whose mum is Tanya, is continuing to grow and put on weight.
Published Monday, January 13, 2003
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