Just a few weeks after announcing the birth of its adorable pygmy hippo calf, the Toronto Zoo has another super cute new resident, and this time, the zoo is asking the public to help give its newest arrival a proper name!
The southern hairy-nosed wombat joey has already earned the temporary nickname “#TZPouchPotato” since she spends most of her time tucked inside her mom’s pouch.
Head over to the zoo’s website and choose from one of four names up for consideration: Nellie, Melba, Matilda or Clover. The Australian Consulate in Toronto helped the zoo come up with the shortlist (very fitting, considering southern hairy-nosed wombats are native to Australia).
Voting is already underway and runs until 11:59 p.m. on Sept. 30, with one entry allowed per email address.
If you’re hoping to catch a glimpse of Toronto’s newest little celebrity in person, you might have to wait a bit. The joey is still spending much of her time inside the pouch, but the zoo says visitors could begin spotting her as she gets more adventurous and ventures out (she’s expected to fully emerge from the pouch later this fall).
We don’t have her exact birth date, but according to the zoo, Southern hairy-nosed wombats are born after a gestation of just 21 to 30 days and are only about the size of a jelly bean at birth, weighing about half a gram. A joey remains attached to its mother’s teat for around four months and generally starts poking its nose out of the pouch at about six months old before eventually heading outside to explore.
It also seems like the Toronto Zoo has cornered the market on cute baby animals this year! In August, the zoo welcomed Maple, its female endangered pygmy hippo calf, who was born to mom Kindia. The calf received her name a few weeks later and has since started meeting visitors at the African Rainforest Pavilion. Maple is Canada’s only pygmy hippo calf and one of just three pygmy hippos in the country, including her parents.
Follow @thetorontozoo for updates.
