Baby love draws visitors to the zoo

Billboards, sweat shirts and DVDs market the Toledo Zoo's baby elephant.
TOLEDO (AP) -- The mad dash starts as the baby African elephant saunters into his enclosure to gnaw on twigs left behind by his zoo keepers.
Boys and girls reach into their bags for cameras, jostling with one another to get a better view. Shouting out "Louie, Louie" in unison, they cheer as he steps closer.
For zoos, nothing draws a crowd like an adorable baby elephant or gorilla. And at a time when public funding for zoos is limited, attracting more visitors helps prop up the bottom line.
The 935-pound Louie, who will celebrate his first birthday Thursday with a sugar-free cake, has become the Toledo Zoo's biggest attraction.
He's on billboards and on sweat shirts that say "He has his mother's nose." He's got his own DVD. When he was first shown to the public, there were two-hour lines just to get a three-minute glimpse.
'Baby Boom'
The Audubon Zoo in New Orleans started the "Baby Boom" marketing campaign this spring to highlight its new arrivals -- Satchmo, a rhinoceros born in September, a baby anteater and two jaguar cubs.
"Baby animals are one of the best things you can have to bring people in -- depending on what it is," said Sarah Burnette, spokeswoman.
A zoo babies celebration is one of the most popular events at the Cincinnati Zoo, where pink and blue signs point the way to the newborns.
"We don't just stick to the cute and cuddly," said John Dinon, the zoo's director of animal conservation. "We've done it for insects and snakes."
Dinon and other zoo leaders say animals are bred to save their species, and that boosting attendance isn't their primary motivation.
The North Carolina Zoo plans a $6 million expansion for its elephant and rhinoceros exhibit. It wants to put together the largest breeding herd of African elephants in the nation.
Two years ago, the zoo's director, David Jones, said the best way to increase attendance and revenue was to have a baby elephant. The larger herd also may help replenish the aging number of captive African elephants.
"Sure we want more visitors, that's how we survive," said zoo spokesman Tom Gillespie. "But we're most concerned about the survival of the species. They're in a crisis mode right now."
Animal welfare groups estimate there are 400,000 to 650,000 African elephants in the wild. While some countries say their numbers have grown in the past decade, it's still much less than the 1970s, when there were about 1.3 million elephants.
Louie entered the spotlight at the Toledo Zoo when he became just the 38th African elephant born in captivity in the United States.
Only about half survive through the first year. That's why the zoo's marketing team waited a few months before putting Louie's face on billboards and souvenirs.
"We were hesitant to do anything initially," said zoo spokeswoman Andi Norman. "We didn't have warehouses full of stuff waiting."
Mother-baby bond
For the first month, keepers kept visitors out of sight, making sure that Louie and his first-time mother bonded. They also were worried that she might become too aggressive with her baby.
Like many zoos, Toledo had a contest to select his name. The zoo received 8,000 suggestions in three weeks.
Now he's the star of "Louie mania."
Three out of four people who went to the zoo last summer stopped to see him.
At gift shops, there are 123 different elephant souvenirs, including magnets, mugs, sweat shirts and T-shirts. For $14.99, visitors can take home a DVD that describes the zoo's elephant breeding program and shows Louie's first steps.
Zoo visitor Kathy Billington said that over the last year she has taken her grandchildren, Morgan and Kevin, many times to see Louie.
"They love him," she said while the kids peered through a fence and watched trainers working with the elephant. "It's been fun watching him grow up."