Cast Your Vote, Help Name Lansing Zoo's Baby Bongo

(CBS DETROIT) - A female baby bongo was born at Potter Park Zoo in Lansing and the zoo is asking for the public's help in choosing a name for her.

Female bongo calf at Potter Park Zoo in Lansing | Credit: Potter Park Zoo

The baby bongo was born in March 2022, and this is the zoo's first bong birth since 2014.

Zoo officials are giving people four names to vote from:

• Bahiti (means lucky in Swahili)
• Zahara (means flower in Swahili)
• Mable
• Winnie

Voting is open from now until Friday, June 17 at 10 p.m.

Every $5 donation counts as a vote toward one of the names and each additional $5 donation counts as another vote.

Each donation will support the Potter Park Zoo.

Vote for your favorite name here.

The eastern bongo is a rare species, as approximately 300 eastern bongos reside in AZA-accredited zoos across the nation.

Zoo officials say the calf's parents were paired up as part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Species Survival Plan (SSP), which oversees a few bongo births each year.

In addition to this, officials say there are thought to be only about 100 bongos living in the wild. Bongos are often targets of poaching and hunting because of their ornate horns and orange coat.

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