Party Time, Elephant

Most American teens consider themselves too cool for birthday parties. Leave the cupcakes and the brightly colored hats to the children, they scoff. The fifteenth birthday is particularly agonizing: so sure of your own maturity, yet so not allowed to drive a car. Raja, a much-adored member of the Saint Louis Zoo's elephant posse, has no such qualms about his fifteenth (although he, too, is prohibited from driving). This beloved Asian elephant parties in style, as the world-class zoo in Forest Park once again celebrates Raja's birthday. And there's certainly a lot to celebrate: Raja now has two baby daughters, the sixteen-month-old Maliha (born to elephant-mom Ellie) and the ten-month-old Jade (born to elephant-mom Rani). Join the whole happy elephamily — and your fellow human well-wishers — today from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the zoo. The party is free, as is admission to the zoo; for more information call 314-781-0900 or visit www.stlzoo.org.
Thu., Dec. 27, 2007