VOTING BEGINS MONDAY TO NAME BABY ELEPHANT AT SAFARI PARK

In July, the San Diego Zoo Safari Park received 1,019 name suggestions for an African elephant calf born on May 12, 2010. It was a mammoth task to pick the top three, but after two weeks of reviewing names keepers chose three that had a special meaning for the Park’s elephant herd.
Beginning Monday, Aug. 9 through Thursday, Aug. 12, the public can vote for their favorite name through a web poll at www.sandiegozoo.org. The most popular name will be announced at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 26 at the Park’s elephant exhibit.

The final three names are:

1.    Emanti, a word that means “water” in SiSwati, the language of the Kingdom of Swaziland, the country where the calf’s parents were rescued from in 2003. This suggestion was chosen because of the calf’s love for playing in and with water.

2.    Usutu, which is a large river in Swaziland.

3.    Mnakabo, a word that means “their brother” in SiSwati. This word was selected to represent the herd’s growing numbers.

There are eight youngsters in the 16-member African elephant herd, ranging from 3 months to 6 years old. The herd has doubled its size since the eight adults were rescued from Swaziland, a small country in southern Africa, where they faced being killed because elephant overpopulation was destroying habitat.

Visit the youngster during the African Summer Festival at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. At 11 a.m. daily, through Sept. 6, watch the elephants eagerly head out into their exhibit to enjoy snacks, search for treats, and play with items — and each other!

The 1,800-acre San Diego Zoo Safari Park (historically referred to as the Wild Animal Park) is operated by the not-for-profit San Diego Zoo and includes a 900-acre native species reserve. The organization focuses on conservation and research work around the globe, educates millions of individuals each year about wildlife and maintains accredited horticultural, animal, library and photo collections.  The Zoo also manages the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research.  The important conservation and science work of these entities is supported in part by The Foundation of the Zoological Society of San Diego.