Philadelphia Zoo’s new sloth bear cub gets a crowd-sourced name through online poll
Keematee was christened by more than 200,000 voters in a poll that ended Thursday.
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The cutest resident of West Philadelphia finally has a name. And it fits him well.
In December, one of the Philadelphia Zoo’s sloth bears gave birth to a cub, and it took zookeepers a bit to determine its gender — zookeepers usually keep their distance in the first few weeks after birth, a task extended because of coronavirus-related social distancing, according to officials.
Four months later, the male has been given a name, chosen by nearly 200,000 people through an online poll: Keematee, the Hindi word for “precious.”
The zoo remains closed because of the coronavirus pandemic, but Keematee can be widely viewed through the zoo’s social media accounts.
“There has been an overwhelming amount of enthusiasm around the birth of this cub, inside and outside the zoo,” said Andy Baker, the zoo’s chief operating officer. “This birth is significant for the zoo as well as the overall sloth bear population in the U.S., and highlights the wonderful animal care and other work happening at Philadelphia Zoo each and every day."
The poll, which ended Thursday, gave voters four names to choose from, all Hindi words selected by zoo staff. Sloth bears hail from Sri Lanka, and staff wanted to christen him in his native tongue, according to Baker.
The species is considered vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Keematee is fourth of his kind to live at the Philadelphia Zoo, preceded by Bhalu, 6; Balat, 13; and Kayla, his 7-year-old mom.