Pregnant Elephant Doing Prenatal Exercises

Elephant Prepares for Newborn

As she approaches the end of her two-year pregnancy, Panang the elephant prepares for her newborn by doing maternity stretches at Tierpark Hellabrunn Zoo in Munich.

Joerg Koch, AFP / Getty Images

Panang is expected to give birth within the next month or two. She has been pregnant twice before, but both times she delivered stillborn calves, reports the UK's Daily Mail.

Joerg Koch, AFP / Getty Images

Because labor is so difficult for elephants, stillbirths are very frequent. Sometimes the baby gets stuck between the womb and the pelvis, according to the Daily Mail.

Joerg Koch, AFP / Getty Images

Led by her trainer Andi Fries, the 20-year-old elephant practiced a sequence of exercises designed to strengthen her body.

Joerg Koch, AFP / Getty Images

By doing these stretching and strengthening exercises, Panang's keepers hope to ease her delivery and prevent another stillbirth, reports the Daily Mail.

Joerg Koch, AFP / Getty Images