Behind the scenes with Linh Mai, the National Zoo’s beloved baby elephant

The elephant in the room is getting bigger by the day.

It’s been about four weeks since Katharine Hope, an associate veterinarian at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, got face time with Linh Mai, the adorable 3-month-old Asian elephant taking over the world’s social media feeds with her silly, almost puppy-like antics.

Or, as Hope puts it: “I haven’t seen her in, like, 150 pounds.”

During a routine checkup Thursday morning, the roughly 500-pound elephant calf was playfully flailing and rubbing her trunk on a bar separating her from the zoo staff.

“You’re the best,” Hope said, laughing.

Linh Mai is an early contender for the best watercooler conversation of the year, a rare four-quadrant demographic people pleaser that draws in zoo visitors from all over the world and even more people watching from afar on social media.

“She’s great,” Hope said. “She’s a baby, so she’s happy and friendly and then she’s really vocal and makes statements. She knows when she doesn’t want something. ... I think she’s going to be a delightful, spunky elephant.”

A lifelong National Zoo lover

Growing up in Montgomery County, Hope was a frequent National Zoo visitor. She’d picnic with family and friends on Lion Tiger Hill and spend countless hours watching the gorillas.

As a student at Bannockburn Elementary School and Thomas W. Pyle Middle School, she loved animals and thought about becoming a primatologist, but her “parents were like, ‘That’s not a job,’” Hope recalled. It wasn’t until she was in college that she discovered working with animals for a living was, in fact, a job she could have.

“It still actually blows my mind pretty much every day when I drive here and I have that connect of, ‘Wow, this was my zoo as a kid,’” Hope said. “I can’t believe I’m here, and I still feel the same feeling of awe and surprise that I felt when I first started working here.”

After graduating from veterinary school at Tufts University, Hope joined the National Zoo as a resident in 2007 before becoming an associate veterinarian. She’s been at the zoo ever since, save for a two-year sabbatical when she worked with Tasmanian devils in Australia.

“It’s the greatest job in the world,” Hope said. “I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.”

At the National Zoo, a veterinarian might be dealing with an 8.5-gram poison frog, a 6,000-pound adult Asian elephant or something in between on any given day. Hope usually works with animals that are older, just got into a fight or have an ailment.

That makes mornings like Thursday especially fun. Hope swung by the elephant house to check on Linh Mai, who was healthy and happy to see her — perhaps a little too excited about the extra attention in the morning to the point of not being ready to finish her breakfast: the largest baby bottle you’ve ever seen.

“Every time you actually get to enjoy being with a healthy animal, it’s really something special,” Hope said.

All eyes on Linh Mai

It was all hands on deck between elephant house staff and veterinarians when Linh Mai was born. And now, among visitors, the baby elephant craze at the National Zoo is reaching panda-level excitement — panda-monium, if you will.

Guests line up before the elephant house opens in the morning (the zoo opens an hour before the elephant house does).

The Smithsonian offers a slew of elephant-themed merch, food and beverage options (including a Linh Mai Tai, coming soon) and is planning a festival tied to World Elephant Day in August. Annual Boo at the Zoo and Zoolights events will feature elephant themes. Can’t make it in person? Check the elephant cam live feed every day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Yes, she is that big a deal. Linh Mai is the Smithsonian National Zoo’s first elephant birth in 25 years, no small feat for raising awareness of an endangered species.

“The value of connecting with an animal at the zoo, whether it’s the elephant or the gorilla or the naked mole rat or a turtle, making those personalized connections with the animals has such an important role in getting people to be aware of their presence on the planet,” Hope said. “And that we need to be responsible shepherds for making sure that they continue to be co-occupants of this planet.”

Everyone wants to hear about how Linh Mai is doing. Hope gets frequent requests from friends for stories about the baby elephant to brighten up rough days.

“Even my children — it is very difficult to get them excited about my job these days ... but the baby elephant? They all got excited about her and have gotten to meet her," Hope said. “She makes everybody happy.”