Salju, Kadali or Perdana? Take online poll to help pick this baby gibbon's name
Assiniboine Park Zoo says decision will be announced May 1
The Winnipeg zoo's cutest new resident needs a name, and you can help pick it.
The white-handed gibbon born at Assiniboine Park Zoo on Feb. 4 still doesn't have a name, but you can vote for your favourite among the following choices:
- Salju, the Indonesian word for snow.
- Kadali, a Southeast Asian name that means banana tree.
- Perdana, a Malay/Indonesian word that means prime or first.
People can vote online until 4 p.m. on Monday, and the winning name will be announced on May 1.
All of the names come from regions where white-handed gibbons live in the wild.
They are also non-gender specific because while zoo staff suspect the baby is female, they haven't done a physical exam yet, so they're not certain.
The baby's parents, Maya and Samson, were matched on a recommendation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums species survival plan program.
It's the first baby gibbon born at the zoo's new gibbon habitat, which opened in June 2017.
"Gibbons are very attached to their mothers for the first few months of their lives, but it won't be long before our little one starts exploring independently," said Allison Ginsburg, curator of animal care at the zoo.
There were no gibbons at the zoo for a while after the old monkey house was closed in 2011 because it didn't meet modern standards, but Maya was born at the Winnipeg zoo shortly before it closed. She lived at Safara Niagara, a private zoo in Ontario, until the new exhibit opened in the former lion pavilion.
Adults and youth who want to see the baby before choosing a name can visit the zoo Friday at a reduced rate of $15. Admission for children age three to 12 is $11.25 and kids under three are free.