The Associated Press

TOLEDO - A rare elephant birth in captivity has set off a cautious celebration at the Toledo Zoo.

The zoo has been trying for five years to have a successful elephant birth with its two females.

The wait ended late Wednesday night when Renee, a 24-year-old African elephant, gave birth to a 275-pound male after a 22-month pregnancy. The infant pachyderm was immediately alert.

"It took four people to keep it from going everywhere it wanted to go," said Dennis Schmitt, a professor at Southwest Missouri State University who performed the artificial insemination that impregnated Renee.

Toledo Zoo Executive Director Bill Dennler called it one of the most significant events in zoo history.

The mother and baby will not be on display until keepers feel they are healthy and bonding with each other.

Only about a dozen African elephants have been born at zoos in North America since 1995, according to the American Zoological and Aquarium Association, which has 212 members.

And only about half survive the first year.

Toledo's attempts at an elephant birth have been filled with frustration.

There was the move of the females to Pittsburgh in 1998 in hopes of finding a mate.

But that experiment failed after a year when the males weren't interested.

The zoo brought in Schmitt who has developed the procedure of inseminating elephants since 1987.

Artificial insemination has become crucial to the population of captive elephants, which do not reproduce well in captivity.

The zoo's other female, Rafiki, was the first elephant to be successfully inseminated through surgery.

But the long-awaited birth ended sadly last July at the Toledo Zoo when the calf died during birth.

Keepers at the birth Wednesday separated the new mom and baby to protect the infant.

The zoo will begin reintroducing them, allowing them to bond without triggering the mother's nervousness and any aggression.

"She realizes who he is. She's not quite sure what she's supposed to do with him," said Randi Meyerson, curator of large mammals.