APPLE VALLEY, Minn. — It's time to name the male Amur cub born at the Minnesota Zoo this past spring!
The cub is one of three in its litter born at the zoo on Mother's Day. The cubs made their debut exploring the zoo's 'Tiger Lair' habitat last week, and "can often be seen in the mornings romping through the grass and playing with one another," according to a press release. Zoo officials noted that their mom Dari is never too far away.
The zoo is asking the community to help name one of the male Amur cubs by voting on the zoo's website at mnzoo.org/tiger-cub-voting/. The names that members of the community can choose from are Aleksei, Anri, Vasya, and Vostok. The zoo says that names chosen for the animals are "representative of the region and culture of the species’ native habitat in the wild," and were chosen based on the Amur tiger's origins in East Asia.
Voting opens Tuesday and will close on Aug. 23 at 11:59 p.m. Names for the other two cubs, a male and female, will be selected internally by Minnesota Zoo staff. All three names will be announced on Aug. 24.
According to their website, the Minnesota Zoo has made an intentional effort to prevent the extinction of Amur tiger's since 1978. In collaboration with other institutions, a species survival plan has been enacted with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) as well as cooperative breeding right here in Minnesota.
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