Baby elephant 'comes back to life'

An elephant which experts believed had died in the womb was reportedly born alive at an Australian zoo yesterday.

On Monday, an ultrasound on mother Porntip from staff at Sydney's Taronga Zoo showed no signs of life, Sky News reports.

Senior elephant keeper Katharina Theodore said: "[After the birth] I called her name. She didn't turn around at all. I started to get upset because she seemed to be in a stupor.

"I was kind of happy she had at least expelled the calf. And then, mind-blowingly enough, the calf raised its head. We were saying, 'It's a live calf, it's a calf'."

It is now believed that the calf - temporarily nicknamed Mr Shuffles for its unsteady stance - was in a coma for its last days of labour.