The 2-week-old baby western lowland gorilla at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo has been named Zahra.
Zahra is Swahili for “beautiful flower.”
Of the roughly 25,000 votes cast in the zoo’s online poll from June 5 to 9, Zahra received 12,071 votes. The name Lola, which means “greatness” in Yoruba, came in second with 7,894 votes. And the name Mkali, Swahili for “fierce,” placed third with 5,563 votes, the zoo said.
According to the zoo, mom, Calaya, had Zahra sometime between midnight and 6:15 a.m. on May 27. Calaya, 20, and dad, Baraka, 31, also have a son, 5-year-old Moke.
You can keep up with Zahra’s progress on the zoo’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. The gorilla troop at ben seen at the zoo’s Great Ape House.
Western lowland gorillas are a critically endangered species. The zoo said the primary threats to their survival include disease, poaching, and habitat destruction due to farming and mining activities.
Feature image courtesy Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute/Becky Malinsky
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