Once the gorilla’s sex is determined, animal lovers will be able to go online and cast a vote for their favorite name out of the ones supplied by the zoo’s visitors and social media followers.
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The Philadelphia Zoo is not going to name the new gorilla Harambe.
Philadelphia Zoo in the USA has asked members of the public to name a cute new gorilla.
Can we have a baby gorilla of our own, please?
The adorable new gorilla in Philadelphia made its public debut on Wednesday, five days after its 21-year-old mother, Honi, gave birth. Once they do know, they’re planning on choosing a shortlist of names and asking the public to vote on them.
“We want to thank so many for your outpouring of support and genuine excitement around the birth of a new baby gorilla at the Zoo”.
Western lowland gorillas are listed as Critically Endangered in the wild, according to the the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
On Thursday, the zoo’s Chief Marketing Officer Amy Shearer told CNN she “totally” understands the online demand for the gorilla to be named Harambe, but clarified the zoo never actually said it would let the Internet decide on the name.
Like humans, officials said gorilla babies rely completely on their mother for care.
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Yet social media users tried to keep the focus on Harambe, offering name ideas like Harambe Jr., Harry M. Bee, Harambinho and Harambaby. Zoo employees soon clarified that the public can not just come up with names; people have to pick from a list provided by the zoo once the baby’s gender is known. But to some, it also opened up the possibility that the internet public would try to co-opt the zoo’s contest to honor another great ape.
