Who is 'Linh Mai'? Baby elephant from DC zoo breaks internet; visuals go viral

Zoo members were given exclusive preview from April 15 to 19, followed by her public debut on April 22, coinciding with Earth Day.

Remember Paul the Octopus, the octopus that went viral for predicting football match results? Or the wave of animal “predictors” that followed — including Moo Deng during the US elections? Not every viral animal falls into that category though — take the recent ‘Punch’ monkey, for instance, which trended online for entirely different reasons.

Now, the internet has a new favourite — and this one is all about pure charm.

Meet Linh Mai

A two-month-old Asian elephant calf at Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington DC, Linh Mai has caught netizens’ attention. What makes the little one stand out is she being the first elephant born at the zoo in nearly 25 years — something that has naturally brought her into the spotlight.

Over the past few weeks, the zoo had been sharing sneak peeks of the calf, building excitement around her. Back in March, a video of Linh Mai being raised by her mother, Nhi Linh, at the zoo premises surfaced online and quickly grabbed attention, pulling in around 39,000 views.

Soon after, it was announced that the viral baby elephant would be introduced to the public. Zoo members were given exclusive access from April 15 to 19, followed by her public debut on April 22, coinciding with Earth Day.

“At just two months old, our Asian elephant calf is playful, curious… and a little sassy,” the zoo said in a post on X earlier this month. It also noted that Linh Mai has started exploring the outdoors with her “auntie” Swarna, who is helping her learn the ropes.