Sudha Murthy: Bangalore Zoo’s Adorable Baby Elephant named after her

Infosys Foundation’s Chairperson Sudha Murthy earned another feather in her cap this week, after a zoo in Bangalore decided to name an elephant calf after her, in recognition of her contribution towards wildlife conservation in the country.

The little calf was born on August 17 in the Bannerghatta Biological Park, just two days before her namesake, the author, philanthropist and wife of Infosys founder Narayan Murthy celebrated her 70th birthday.

Bengaluru Bannerghatta Biological Park to name elephant ‘Sudha’, acknowledging the contribution of Infosys Foundation Chairperson Sudha Murthy towards the cause of wildlife conservation. https://t.co/mFnl0li1Zv

— CNNNews18 (@CNNnews18) August 26, 2020

The Infosys Foundation, which Mrs Murthy runs, has made significant contributions to the park, including to the tiger, giraffe, and zebra enclosures.

Murthy and the Foundation have also in the past addressed concerns, and lent a helping hand to help solve the park’s water storage problems, as well as issues related to staff welfare, the executive director of the park and zoo, Vanashree Vipin Singh said.

A girl is born!
45-yr old Suvarna gave birth to a female elephant in @bannerghattazoo. Mom and daughter are fine.
Any suggestions for a name?@NewIndianXpress @XpressBengaluru @santwana99 @Amitsen_TNIE @ZKarnataka @AnandSinghBS @CTRavi_BJP @moefcc @ParveenKaswan @IFS_Karnataka pic.twitter.com/K5tvZfVRu4

— Bosky Khanna (@BoskyKhanna) August 19, 2020

The week old female calf has been named #Sudha, after #SudhaMurthy from @Infosys:@bannerghattazoo.@XpressBengaluru had sought netizens suggestions and most of you suggested sudha.@NewIndianXpress @santwana99 @Amitsen_TNIE @ZKarnataka @AnandSinghBS @moefcc @CMofKarnataka pic.twitter.com/cjvZI66N68

— Bosky Khanna (@BoskyKhanna) August 25, 2020

Taking into account her numerous personal visits to the biological park to monitor progress, reports said, the staff eventually decided on naming the calf Sudha. Wildlife conservationists were on board with the plan, considering the amount of good work done by the Infosys Foundation.

Happy to announce that Elephant Suvarna’s calf will be named as ‘Sudha’ to acknowledge the contribution of Chairperson, Infosys Foundation, Sudha Murthy towards the cause of wildlife conservation.Madam has kindly consented to our proposal to do so. @ZKarnataka @Infy_Foundation pic.twitter.com/DWYVAVAHSI

— Bannerghatta Zoo (@bannerghattazoo) August 25, 2020

This isn’t the first time the park has acknowledged the efforts of wildlife conservationists. “In the past, I named one elephant after Tulsi Gowda who was a Padma Shri awardee,” the park’s executive director and senior IFS officer, Singh, was quoted as saying.

“She was from Karnataka and had done a lot of plantation work. It was done to recognise her services to environmental causes.”

With the arrival of a new calf, meanwhile, the Bannerghatta Biological Zoo, which spreads over nearly 73 thousand hectares in Karnataka, now has a total of 25 elephants. Considering young Sudha was named after such a beloved figure, we’re sure she will be well taken care of.