clipped from: seattlepi.nwsource.com   

Hansa, whose Thai name meant "Supreme Happiness," left Seattle supremely sad Friday after her sudden death during the night.

Hansa paints
Hansa, Woodland Park Zoo's 6-and-a-half-year-old elephant, was found dead Friday morning, closing the elephant exhibit for the day, according to zoo officials.

Hansa had been under the weather since May 31, when zoo staff noticed a decline in appetite, colic-like symptoms, and a decrease in her activity level.

Recent tests were "inconclusive," and she was being monitored and given antibiotics

The zoo performed a necropsy this afternoon, but definitive results won't be known for several weeks.

For 9-year-old Zachary Osborn, the news was almost too much to absorb. Stunned and sad-looking, he had no words.

The herpes virus is a frequent cause of death in young elephants in captivity, he said, although it's not possible to say yet whether that was a factor in Hansa's death.