THAI’s New Born Elephant Delivered at Seattle Zoo

‘Chai’, a female elephant, was presented to Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle as a gift from Thai Airways International and Dusit Zoo in 1980 to mark THAI’s inaugural flight on the route Bangkok-Seattle on 30 March 1980. ‘Chai’ was then a one-year-old calf and had become talk of the town. In November 2000, 20 years later, ‘Chai’ made another historic event. The delivery of her female calf named ‘Hansa’ was a much celebrated event, not only at Woodland Park Zoo, but in Thailand. ‘Hansa’ was the first baby elephant to be born at the zoo in its 100-year history. The event has drawn a worldwide attention. ‘Chai’ was named after Pol. Lt. General Chatrachai Bunya-ananta, President of THAI at that time.

A pair of Elk deer and a pair of Bison were presented to Dusit Zoo as gifts from Seattle in return for the lovingly ‘Chai’. Unfortunately, Elk deer was declared extinct in 1985. The Bison subsequently gave birth to two calves, one male and one female.

The Bison parents were sent off to Nakorn Srithammaraj Zoo, while their offerings were destined for Chiang Mai Zoo. The latter pair gave birth to a young calf whose life only lasted a few days. In 1996, the death of the Bison parents was announced while their offspring live on at Nakorn Srithammaraj Zoo.

‘Chai’ was part of the zoo ‘breeding program’ from which she was mated with a male elephant named ‘Onyx’ at Dickerson Park Zoo, Missouri State. At the end of a 659-day pregnancy period, ‘Chai’ gave birth to a 235-pound female calf on 3 November 2000.

A “Baby Elephant Naming” contest was organized by Woodland Park Zoo during 23 February – 23 March 2001, soon after the birth of the calf. The name ‘Hansa’ was selected out of 16,000 entries, which means supreme happiness in Thai. The winner received a return air ticket on the route Seattle-Bangkok sponsored by Thai Airways International.

The prize was presented to the winner of “Baby Elephant Naming” contest on 26 March 2001, by Pol.Lt. General Chatrachai Bunya-ananta.