Woodland Park Zoo invites everyone of all ages to vote on a name for one of its new snow leopard cubs, born May 25. His twin sister has already been named Batu (pronounced BAH-too), meaning firm, hard, honest in Mongolian.
Photo by Ryan Hawk, Woodland Park Zoo.
All ages are eligible to vote online. Ballots are also available at Woodland Park Zoo’s Zoomazium and ZooStore during zoo hours. The poll runs through midnight, Aug. 12.
The poll offers four Mongolian names in honor of one of 12 countries that is home to the endangered snow leopard:
- Gobi (go-bee) – Gobi Desert in Mongolia
- Boke (rhymes with poke) – Strong
- Irbis (ear-biss) – Leopard
- Vachir (voch-err) – Thunderbolt
The winning name will be announced when the cubs make their public debut at noon on Snow Leopard Day on Sat., Aug. 15.
The snow leopard is a moderately large cat native to the high mountain ranges of Central Asia and Russia, including Afghanistan, China, India, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal, and Pakistan. Snow leopard scientists estimate as few as 3,500 remain in the wild.
