THE herd of African elephants at Colchester Zoo's Spirit of Africa Elephant Kingdom are becoming well known for their fertility.
So a new sponsorship deal involving Buckhurst Hill-based Holly House Hospital and its on-site Essex Fertility Centre is particularly pertinent.
Baby Kito, the zoo's new addition to the herd, was the first elephant in the world to be born as a result of one artificial insemination.
The Holly House centre already supports Colchester Zoo by sponsoring its stork enclosure. A new sponsorship deal brings in an additional £3,000 for the zoo.
The centre's business manager and senior embryologist, Andy Glew, said: "It's great that the hospital and the fertility centre can widen its support for the zoo. The work it does is fantastic and is in an area closely linked with our own expertise."
The zoo's marketing manager, Alex Burr, thanked Mr Glew and hospital director Jackie Row for their donation and added: "Kito is now around 145kg and putting on half a kilogram a week.
"At nearly four months old he is eating more and more and is living proof of what can be achieved through artificial insemination.
"The money will go towards his feeding and healthy upkeep over the nextyear, which I'm sure he will appreciate."
The Essex Fertility Centre, which was recently ranked fifth most successful unit in the UK by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, will be holding celebrations at the zoo later in the year to mark the birth of its 2,000th baby.
April 27, 2003 02:00
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