His mother passed away at birth. Now zookeepers at the Al Ain Zoo in Abu Dhabi are asking the public to give this baby gazelle a name. No Splashypants please!
Remember Mr. Splashypants the whale that was named during an online Greenpeace campaign? Like it or not, that’s what voters chose for the whale now being tracked as part of the Great Whale Trail Expedition. Picking up on naming competitions as a way to educate people about animals, zookeepers at an Abu Dhabi zoo are hoping to create some positive publicity for gazelles. Can you name this baby orphaned Mhorr gazelle pictured above?
Now only two months old, the baby Mhorr gazelle’s mom died two hours after he was born, and is now being cared for by professionals: “Our naming competition in Social Media is a fun and creative way to learn more about these beautiful animals,” said Dr Arshad Toosy, from the Al Ain Zoo.
He says that the Mhorr is the largest of the “true” gazelles and it once lived in the Sahara, in Morocco. Hunting and overgrazing by livestock has put them on a slippery slope, and they exist only in captivity.
If you come up with the winning name you will:
a) get the honor of naming this little sweetie
b) get free tickets to the zoo. Yay. And
c) help create a little more awareness about animals on the verge of extinction.
Winners will be announced in December, so cast your vote by November 27 to [email protected].
The Al Ain Zoo (entrance pictured above) was founded in 1968 by the much loved late Sheikh Zayed. An animal lover, the zoo was his contribution to protecting the wildlife that he loved so much.
Author: Karin Kloosterman
Karin Kloosterman is an award-winning journalist, innovation strategist, and founder of Green Prophet, one of the Middle East’s pioneering sustainability platforms. She has ranked in the Top 10 of Verizon innovation competitions, participated in NASA-linked challenges, and spoken worldwide on climate, food security, and future resilience. With an IoT technology patent, features in Canada’s National Post, and leadership inside teams building next-generation agricultural and planetary systems — including Mars-farming concepts — Karin operates at the intersection of storytelling, science, and systems change. She doesn’t report on the future – she helps design it. Reach out directly to [email protected]
