HOUSTON — Houston Zoo is celebrating many things this holiday season, including the arrival of a couple of baby animals. 

What You Need To Know

  • One of those animals is Kirby, a baby Asian elephant born on Nov. 15 to 34-year-old mom Shanti

  • Kirby made her public debut back in November

  • Since then, Kirby has bolstered quite an online presence–which Houston Zoo has dubbed the #KirbyKrew–capturing the attention of many on TikTok for her “quirky” appearance

  • The Houston Zoo also welcomed a male jaguar cub named Rojo, which means red in Spanish, back on Nov. 6

One of those animals is Kirby, a baby Asian elephant born on Nov. 15 to 34-year-old mom Shanti. After 21 months of pregnancy and 19 hours of labor, Shanti gave birth to Kirby, a strong and healthy 314-pound baby, according to a news release from the zoo. 

Kirby made her public debut back in November. Since then, she has bolstered quite an online presence–which Houston Zoo has dubbed the #KirbyKrew–capturing the attention of many on TikTok for her “quirky” appearance. 

She even was knighted into the “Knights of the Rotund Table,” a funny TikTok video series that started with Moo Deng–Thailand’s baby pygmy hippo–and Pesto–Melbourne Zoo’s extra-large baby penguin. The series honors cute baby animals across the world.

“One thing you can’t deny about Kirby, she’s got stage presence. Maybe a malevolent presence, perhaps,” TikTok creator @indipine said in Kirby’s knighting video. “Some said that Kirby in a past life was an unfortunate Victorian child, but I think that Victorian child is still very much in the building.”

Kirby also made her first appearance on "Good Morning America" earlier this month. 

The Houston Zoo also welcomed a male jaguar cub named Rojo, which means red in Spanish, back on Nov. 6, according to a news release. 

Rojo will make his public debut once he’s a little older and is acclimated to his enclosure, the zoo staff said.