A baby Asian elephant has been named the Thai word for “Queen” in honour of the late Queen Elizabeth II.
The late monarch was patron of the ZSL Whipsnade Zoo, where she shook the trunk of Donna the elephant in 2017 after opening the Bedfordshire zoo’s centre for elephant care.
Now, Donna’s baby has been named Nang Phaya, an animal-related Thai word that means “queen” or “strong female monarch”, following the Queen’s death on Thursday (8 September).
Nang Phaya is a month-old female Asian elephant calf who weighs in at 152kg.
ZSL’s elephant project officer Saravanee Namsupak said: “When we saw photos of the adorable elephant calf, we fell in love instantly.
“We were so delighted to be asked to name her. We wanted a name that represented who she is as a future matriarch of the Whipsnade herd, but also her part in the wider story of endangered Asian elephants, like those we work to protect in Thailand.”
The late Queen was a patron of the zoo since 1953. The year she shook Donna’s trunk, Buckingham Palace released a picture of the meeting on her official Christmas card.
Namsupak added that naming Donna’s baby Nang Phaya “seemed like the perfect way to pay tribute to HM The Queen for her work as ZSL’s patron and honour Donna’s famous encounter with her”.
The name also connects the baby “symbolically” to the “herds of Asian elephants in Thailand that are under threat from increasing habitat disturbance and loss which escalates human-elephant conflict and the wellbeing of both elephants and communities”.
Nang Phaya’s birth on 22 August made the young calf a “really important addition” to the endangered species breeding programme for Asian elephants.
“As the boisterous, youngest female in a matriarchal family line, her new name is perfect,” elephant team leader at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo Stefan Groeneveld said.
“Definitely a leader-in-the-making, Nang Phaya is energetic and playful, climbing on anything and everything and racing around the elephant habitat while her mum Donna, grandma Kaylee and the rest of the herd try to keep up.
“Although not on solid food yet, she has been experimenting with using her trunk to pick up twigs and is gradually getting the knack of using it.”
Additional reporting by PA
