NORFOLK, Va. — The Virginia Zoo is seeking the public’s help to name its new baby siamang.
According to WVEC-TV and WAVY-TV, the Norfolk attraction announced Monday that it is holding a naming auction for the 6-week-old primate, born June 26 to parents Malana and Bali.
“The neo-natal exam has not yet been performed as mom and baby haven’t been separate in the interest of their natural bonding process,” the zoo wrote on its website. “So the zoo is requesting gender-neutral names!”
To participate in the auction, which benefits the zoo’s conservation fund, visit the zoo’s website and place a bid by 5 p.m. EDT Friday. The deadline for providing the baby’s name is Aug. 26, the zoo said.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources considers siamangs – which are native to Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand – endangered amid projections that the species’ population in the wild will decline by at least 50% by 2048. Threats to the large gibbons include habitat loss, hunting and human consumption, according to the organization’s website.
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