WICHITA —The Today Show helped the Sedgwick County Zoo reveal the gender and name of zoo's newest elephant calf Thursday morning. It's a girl and her name is Asali.
Asali means "sweet like honey" in Swahili, but at SCZ, it carries a deeper meaning. Herd matriarch, Stephanie, is 53 years old and has lived nearly her entire life at the Sedgwick County Zoo.
Born in the wild and brought to the Zoo in 1972, she was named by the animal care team that welcomed her. However, Stephanie had already been given the name "Asali" before she left Africa. Our community grew to know and love Stephanie by her American name, but her African name remained a part of her identity in Zoo records.
Last year, a generous donor approached the Zoo with a significant donation to the ongoing capital campaign to fund the expansion of the existing Elephant Boma. That donor’s name? Stephanie
With two Stephanies making major contributions to the elephant herd - one financial and one matriarchal - we hope that their legacy will live on through the next generation by naming this new little one Asali.