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Press Releases
Winning Names Announced for the Minnesota Zoo’s Amur Tiger Cub Naming Contest Apple Valley, MINN – October 29, 2012 – The naming contest for the Minnesota Zoo’s two female Amur tiger cubs, presented by KS95, has ended and the winning names have been selected. The cub born at the Minnesota Zoo has been named Sundari (sun-dar-ee) and the cub born at the Saint Louis Zoo has been named Nadya (nad-ee-a). The Minnesota Zoo asked for help from the public to find names for its cubs; names were submitted on its Facebook page. Zookeepers, who work closely with the cubs, then reviewed the almost 1,400 name entries and selected their top three favorites for each cub. The Zoo’s Facebook fans made the final decisions by voting online. A special naming dedication event will be held on Saturday, November 3 at 10:00 am to celebrate the selected names at the Tiger Lair exhibit along the Northern Trail. Local on-air talent, Shannon from the KS95 Morning Show will be on-site, as well as a street team from the upcoming movie, “Life of PI,” who will be providing fun activities for Zoo guests that morning. The two female Amur tiger cubs were hand-reared by Zoo staff because their mothers could not successfully nurse them. The cubs recently made their public debut; Zoo guests can visit them daily from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. (weather permitting) as they get used to their new home. Amur tigers, managed by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ (AZA) Tiger Species Survival Plan® (SSP), have been part of the Minnesota Zoo’s Northern Trail exhibit since the Zoo opened in 1978. Zoo staff members have coordinated the Tiger SSP for more than two decades, and continue to lead efforts conserving tigers in the wild. Amur tigers are native to the temperate forests of Russia. The Minnesota Zoo is located in Apple Valley, just minutes south of Mall of America. For more information, call 952.431.9500 or visit mnzoo.org. The Minnesota Zoo is an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and an institutional member of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA).
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