Woodland Park Zoo is asking the community to name its three lion cubs. The lion keeper team chose 10 names from languages that reflect parts of the South African lion’s native range.
The name with the most votes will automatically be selected as one of the cubs’ names, and the zoo will leave it to lion mother Adia and dad Xerxes to finish the job. The second, third and fourth most popular names selected by the public will be presented to the parents as enrichment choices on Thursday, January 29. Each enrichment item will be associated with a name, and the two the parents touch first will be the names of the final two cubs. Voters will also have the chance to enter a random prize drawing to win a ZooParent lion adoption.
The three lion cubs, all males, were born October 24 to mother Adia and first-time father, Xerxes. The new pride has been living in an off-view maternity den where the cubs can bond and grow in quiet surroundings. Woodland Park Zoo expects to announce the cubs’ public debut in the coming weeks. In preparation, the triplets took their first steps outdoors with Adia and Xerxes during brief practice sessions that introduced the young cubs to their spacious exhibit. Visit the zoo’s blog at bit.ly/1ACObmc for photos of the cubs’ first day outside.
You can vote for up to three names on the zoo’s website. The choices are:
- Bokang (“Praise” or “Rejoice”)
- Pule (“Rainy/In the rain”)
- Tandie (“Fire”)
- Karabo (“Answer”)
- Letlotlo (“Treasure”)
- Phahamo (“Eminence”)
- Fanyana (“Little boy”)
- Bheka (“Behold”)
- Mandla (“Power/Strength”)
- Gandia (“Clever”)
