Baby Elephant Moves with Determination at San Diego Zoo Safari Park
2012-09-20 — /travelprnews.com/ — On Tuesday San Diego Zoo Safari Park keepers announced the name of a female African elephant calf born on Aug. 28. The calf’s name is Qinisa, a Siswati word that means to act determinedly, act with energy, fulfill one’s word, or speak the truth. The name is pronounced (!) EEN-EE-seh (! is a tongue pop instead of a q sound). The name is very fitting, as the calf seems determined (successfully) to be developing faster than any of the 12 calves born to the Safari Park’s elephant herd. At only 1-week-old, Qinisa was sucking water into her trunk and using her trunk to pick up objects like sticks sooner than the other calves. The calf has gained 40 pounds in her first 21 days of life. The mother and calf can also be seen daily at the Park’s elephant habitat or via Elephant Cam on the Park’s web site or Safari Park iPhone app.
The Safari Park is now home to 13 elephants – 4 adults and 9 youngsters. The adults were rescued in 2003 from the Kingdom of Swaziland, where they faced being culled. A lack of space and long periods of drought created unsuitable habitat for a large elephant population in the small southern African country. At the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, elephant studies are underway on nutrition, daily walking distance, growth and development and bioacoustic communication. Since 2004, San Diego Zoo Global has contributed $30,000 yearly to Swaziland’s Big Game Parks to fund programs like anti-poaching patrols, improve infrastructure and purchase additional acreage for the Big Game Parks.
Photo taken on Sept. 18, 2012, by Tammy Spratt, San Diego Zoo Safari Park.
PERMITTED USE: Images are provided to the media solely for reproduction, public display, and distribution in a professional journalistic context in connection with newspaper, magazine, broadcast media (radio, television) or Internet media (ad enabled blog, webcasts, webinars, podcasts). Images may not be made available for public or commercial download, licensing or sale.
REQUIRED CREDIT AND CAPTION: All image uses must bear the copyright notice and be properly credited to the relevant photographer, as shown in this metadata, and must be accompanied by a caption that makes reference to the elephant calf. Any uses in which the image appears without proper copyright notice, photographer credit and a caption referencing the San Diego Zoo Safari Park are subject to paid licensing.
###
CONTACT: SAN DIEGO ZOO GLOBAL
PUBLIC RELATIONS
619-685-3291
WEBSITE: www.sdzsafaripark.org