Should Denver Zoo elephants be renamed after Toyota vehicles in light of $5.4 mil donation?

The Denver Zoo's two lady elephants, Mimi and Dolly, moved yesterday to their new home: the recently rechristened Toyota Elephant Passage exhibit. Formerly called Asian Tropics, the ten-acre, $50 million elephant exhibit was renamed thanks to a $5.4 million donation from the Denver Toyota Dealers Association. In the spirit of renaming things, here we offer new automotive monikers for the zoo's three elephants themselves.

We suggest that Mimi and Dolly now be known as Rav4 and Highlander -- sensible, attractive mid-size vehicles with decent gas mileage, but nothing too flashy. Bodhi, the zoo's first male elephant, could be called Tundra, a manly man-truck with enough horsepower to make the ladies squeal. And then, if things go according to plan (the zoo's new exhibit is equipped with semen-collection technology, after all), we suggest the first baby elephant be named Yaris after Toyota's adorable teeny-weeny car. Awwww!

Though previous plans for Mimi and Dolly to reproduce have failed, Bodhi may have a shot with some other ladies down the line. Toyota Elephant Passage is capable of housing twelve elephants, up to eight of which could be male. Read more about that bold undertaking in our 2009 cover story, "Trunk Show."

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