A jaguar by any other name...
NORRISTOWN >> Elmwood Park Zoo has found names for its 3-month-old jaguar cubs.
With help from a public voting contest, the name “Diego” was chosen for the male cub, and “Luna” was the name chosen for the female cub.
The zoo previously held an open call for name suggestions shortly after the cubs were born. The zoo’s animal care staff poured over thousands of submissions and narrowed them down to their favorite four choices for each cub.
The zoo opened up a second round of voting, asking the public to vote online for each of the top four names. “Diego” won out over “Pablo,” “Fuego” and “Cielo.”
“Luna” beat out “Maya,” “Zara” and “Frida.”
Voters paid a $1 donation for each vote and had an option to donate additional funds.
After three weeks of voting, the contest raised $1,341. The funds will go on to benefit the Northern Jaguar Project, an organization that has created and maintains a safe-haven sanctuary for jaguars and other wildlife in the American Southwest and northern Mexico. Elmwood Park Zoo has pledged to match the public’s donation to the Northern Jaguar Project.
Both cubs are very active. Luna weighs 13 lbs. while her brother Diego weighs 15.5 lbs. While plans are still tentative, the zoo hopes to debut the cubs during the opening of the zoo’s new Trail of the Jaguar facility.
Elmwood Park Zoo’s Trail of the Jaguar opens to the general public on Friday, May 5, with a week of Zoo Member previews beginning Thursday, April 27.
Diego and Luna are the first jaguars born in 2017 within an Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) accredited facility. Their birth was recommended and planned by the AZA’s Species Survival Program (SSP). Jaguars are considered a “near threatened” species due to the continued loss of their natural habitat. The Jaguar SSP manages a genetically diverse population of 84 jaguars in over 40 AZA accredited zoos all across the country.
To learn more about the Northern Jaguar Project, visit www.northernjaguarproject.com.