County Executive Ryan McMahon Announces Naming Contest for New Baby Elephant at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo
Submissions will be accepted through February 8th
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – County Executive J. Ryan McMahon, II today launched a naming contest for the
new baby Asian elephant at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo. The new calf was born on January 15th, 2019 to
mother Mali and father Doc. His older brother, Batu, will turn 4 in May.
Name suggestions can be submitted via an online form starting today, January 31st. The link can be found here: Help name the new baby elephant! The zoo will accept submissions through Friday,
February 8th. The zoo’s elephant team will then select 5 finalists for an online vote. Asian elephants are native to Southeast Asia, including India and Thailand. The zoo will be seeking name suggestions that reflect that heritage.
County Executive McMahon said, “We are very excited to launch this naming contest for the newest
member of the Onondaga County and Zoo family. The baby elephant and mom are doing great and I
look forward to providing updates to the community soon.” McMahon continued, “The staff at the zoo is
second to none and we are all proud of the work they do every day.”
Asian elephants are critically endangered in their native lands due to habitat destruction and hunting and
poaching by humans. Only about 30,000 are estimated to remain in the wild.
The new addition brings the zoo’s elephant herd to 8 animals, including a three-generation family group.
The zoo is in the midst of a construction project to expand its Asian Elephant Preserve from 4.5 acres to
over 6 acres and improve viewing access to elephants and other species on the Wildlife Trail.