Austrian zoo opens vote to name panda cub

The Schoenbrunn Zoo here opened online voting on Tuesday for the naming of one of the two twin panda cubs born in August, the zoo stated in a press release.

In the past few weeks, the zoo accepted about 2,000 suggestions for possible names for the male cub, which it has now narrowed down to three -- Fu Lin, Fu Ban, and Fu Xiong.

This is also in keeping with the zoo's own tradition of using the name "Fu," meaning "happy" or "lucky" in English, as part of the names for panda cubs born there.

"There were so many excellent names, that we have enough ideas for the next hundred cubs," zoo director Dagmar Schratter said.

Voting will be open until Nov. 2, following which the name of the female cub, already chosen by the zoo, will also be revealed.

The zoo plans to hold a celebration for the naming of the pandas on Nov. 27.

Voting for the naming of the cub can be done on the Schoenbrunn Zoo website.

(APD)