Toronto Zoo asking public for help in naming new baby gorilla
Image: Toronto Zoo - Youtube
theweathernetwork.com
Wednesday, April 2, 2014, 12:14 PM -
It's a girl! Proud parents, mom Ngozi and dad Charles, welcomed their baby girl at the Toronto Zoo on January 10.
The zoo is asking the public for help in naming the the three-month old female North American Western lowland gorilla.
The newborn is the 15th gorilla to be sired by Charles and born at the Toronto Zoo since it opened in 1974. She also has an older brother named Nassir, who was born in 2009.
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Toronto Zoo is inviting people to submit a name on their website. African names are desired and each submission must start with the letter "N", keeping in line with the zoo's tradition of naming baby gorillas with the same first initial as the mother's.
The contest runs until April 22 and the winning name will be announced at the end of the month.
Western lowland gorillas are a critically endangered species and are found in central Africa in the wild.
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The zoo is a longtime partner in the Gorilla Species Survival Plan, an international conservation effort to help prevent extinction.
Earlier this year, the zoo announced the name a polar bear cub -- Humphrey -- after a similar contest was held.
