Baby elephant makes its Earth Day debut at the National Zoo

WASHINGTON — This year, spring showers brought a special April flower to Washington, D.C. — a 2-month-old Asian elephant named Linh Mai, or "spirit blossom" in Vietnamese.

WASHINGTON — This year, spring showers brought a special April flower to Washington, D.C. — a 2-month-old Asian elephant named Linh Mai, or "spirit blossom" in Vietnamese.

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Linh Mai makes her public debut Wednesday at the Smithsonian's National Zoo, where visitors can see the first elephant born at the zoo in nearly 25 years.

The rare birth in captivity and the elephant calf's Earth Day debut highlight the plight of Asian elephants, which are endangered. There are only an estimated 50,000 or fewer in the wild, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and their population has dropped by about 50% over the last 60-75 years, according to the World Wildlife Fund.