Jabali has garnered the most votes to be the name for the first gorilla born at the Taipei Zoo in its 106-year history, the zoo said yesterday.
The zoo on Saturday last week started an online poll for people to choose a name for the baby gorilla, born on Oct. 31.
People had until noon on Friday to choose from one of four names for the male gorilla, which were put forward by organizations involved in the zoo’s gorilla conservation program, it said.
Photo provided by Taipei Zoo
Jabali (“brave and strong”) was proposed by the Netherlands Office Taipei, Ringo (a Polish game) was proposed by the Polish Office in Taipei, Kwanza (“No. 1” or “first”) was proposed by the Shin Kong Life Foundation and Mapenzi (“lively and mischievous”) was proposed by Apenheul Primate Park in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands.
Jabali received 1,004 votes, followed by Mapenzi with 228, Ringo with 213 and Kwanza with 42, the zoo said.
In other news, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp earlier this week unveiled a train decorated with various animals for a Taipei MRT railway’s Wenhu Line (Brown Line) as part of the campaign to attract more visitors to the Taipei Zoo and nearby Maokong (貓空) area.
Photo: CNA
The train features images of the newborns the zoo welcomed this year, including the gorilla, a giant panda named Yuan Bao (圓寶), Malayan tapir Modou (貘豆), a Eurasian otter and three jackass penguins, Taipei Deputy Mayor Tsai Ping-kun (蔡炳坤) said.
The train would operate between Nangang District (南港) and the Taipei Zoo in Wenshan District (文山) until March 15, and would be available for people to ride to the zoo for Yuan Bao’s first public appearance on Jan. 1, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said.
The 170-day-old panda cub has been taken to the indoor enclosure in the giant panda house so she can familiarize herself with the space, the zoo said.
People are also encouraged to visit Maokong for the cherry blossom season around the Lunar New Year holiday in February, the department said.
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