What’s in a name? Choose your favourite for the giant panda cubs

By News staff

We fell in love with the Toronto Zoo’s cute and cuddly giant panda cubs when they first came into the world last fall. Torontonians have followed every stage of their development, and now, we’ll also have a say in their names.

The Zoo announced Monday, just in time for Chinese New Year, that it had launched an online voting platform to name its two giant panda cubs. And not a moment too soon: The cubs will be four months old this weekend.

Voters can choose their favourite pair of names from seven different sets.

All of the names are in Chinese with Canadian meanings, such as Jia Panpan (Canadian Hope) and Jia Yueyue (Canadian Joy); DuoDuo (Toronto) and Jia Jia (Canada).

Voting ends at 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 28. Click here to vote for your favourite name.

Choosing the names wasn’t an easy task. A naming committee was set up to come up with the initial list of names. The list was then sent to the University of Toronto’s English/Chinese translation program for input. The names were then shared with the Chinese Association of Zoological Gardens, Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, and Chongqing Zoo.

The winning names will be announced on March 7.

The pandas marked their 100-day milestone on Jan. 20, “which signifies he or she has survived the risky fragility of infancy.”

The two cubs have been been living with their mother, Er Shun, in the maternity den since they were born. The giant panda gave birth to her first cub, weighing 187.7 grams, at 3:31 a.m. on Oct. 13. The second cub was born at 3:44 a.m., weighing 115 grams. They now weigh 5.55 kilograms and 4.85 kilograms, respectively.

They have not yet been shown to the public, but the Zoo said it plans to during March Break.

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