The public can choose between five names—Obu, Osaka, Okuchi, Otsu, and Obihiro—for the male monkey born on May 2 to mom Ono, according to the North Side zoo’s website. All of the names were picked by the zoo’s animal care experts and match cities in the Japanese macaques’ native habitat.
It’s not coincidence that all of the names start with “O”—the zoo’s plan is to have all the young monkeys’ names start with the first letter of their mom’s name. According to the zoo, having descendants share a common letter in their names makes them easier to track through the generations.
Though the monkey was born less than three weeks ago, he is “receiving plenty of cuddly care from mom and is even starting to explore a little on his own,” according to the zoo. Both Ono and her infant can be seen daily at the zoo.
You can vote on the name at www.lpzoo.org/snowmonkey. Polls will close and the winning name will be announced Friday, May 29.
