Butterstick Panda Cub Name Contest
FONZ, the Friends of the National Zoo, are sponsoring a contest to name the baby panda known only by his nickname, Butterstick. According to Chinese tradition, the cub won’t be officially named until he’s 100 days old.
The China Wildlife Conservation Association and zoo officials selected five names to choose from, said Matt O’Lear, a spokesman for Friends of the National Zoo.One voter will be chosen at random to receive a trip for two to Washington and what zoo officials call a “private visit” with the giant panda family, among other prizes.
The male cub, born July 9, is the first giant panda born at the National Zoo to survive more than a few weeks. The mother, Mai Xiang, and the father, Tian Tian, are on a 10-year loan from China. The cub will be sent to China when it is 2.
Voting on the zoo’s Web site runs through Sept. 30. The winning name will be announced in October.
The choices:
* Hua Sheng (hwah-’SHUNG), which means “China Washington” and “magnificent.”
* Sheng Hua (’SHUNG-hwah), which means “Washington China” and “magnificent.”
* Tai Shan (tie-’SHON), which means “peaceful mountain.”
* Long Shan (lohng-’SHON), which means “dragon mountain.”
* Qiang Qiang (chee-’ONG chee-’ONG), which means “strong, powerful.”
Bloggers nicknamed the cub “Butterstick” because zookeepers described him at birth as being “about the size of a stick of butter.” A “write-in campaign” was immediately organized by bloggers to get the nickname Butterstick to, well, stick. One hacker created a web-based alternative voting form that allowed bloggers to submit the name Butterstick to the web servers of the National Zoo until the webmonkeys at the zoo put an end to that exercise in democracy.
Butterstick, born through artificial insemination, now weighs more than four pounds. Check out the pandacam on the official website for the Giant Pandas, and remember to vote often.
Thursday, August 25th, 2005 |
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2 Comments so far
URSIACLES (ANGEL PANDA)
Comment by matt heiss 01.14.07 @ 9:13 amRSS feed for comments on this post.
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I think this panda cub is very cute. It has also grown a lot over the past month or so. My name is Tory and the most important thing to me are animalls. That’s why I love the zoo.
Comment by Lun-lun 11.22.06 @ 4:59 am