Vote for the best name for an Amur leopard was completed on Wednesday at the Russian Geographical Society Festival. Nearly a thousand people have voted for the name Typhoon.
During all six days of the Festival guests of the exhibitions devoted to the rare animal paid a lot of attention to two big touchscreens. There one could suggest and choose a name for one of the spotted cats - a male numbered Leo12M. Guests suggested almost 2000 names for the leopard, and nearly 10 thousand people voted for the best one.
During the Festival nearly 2000 names for the leopard were suggested
There were a lot of very original names. Thus, some of the Festival guests proposed to call the leopard Philosopher, Kangaroo, Batman, Chuchachka, Beetle, Bro or Bobrik. At the same time many of the voters were in favor of traditional human names - Vladimir, Athanasius, Vasya, Dima, Ivan, and so on. However, more unusual options were among the three leaders - Typhoon, Leopold and Shanechka. As a result, by a margin of approximately 400 votes the leopard was named Typhoon.
"Typhoons as Amur leopards are one of the features of Primorsky Krai, - says Elena Salmanova, Deputy Director for science and ecological education of "Land of the Leopard". - As typhoons, leopards suddenly appear and quickly run away. We hope that the chosen name will give Leo12M and the whole population only its good qualities - strength and power."
Volunteers actively attracted the attention of visitors to the problem of Amur leopards conservation
A painting of a leopard named Typhoon was solemnly presented to Deputy Executive Director of Department for the news and media of the Society Natalia Sokolova. The fact is that initially the right to choose a name for the leopard has been granted to employees of the Society, but they decided to refer this honorable mission to all the participants of the Festival.
"We are honored to be the keeper of the leopard, - says Natalya Sokolova. - Thanks to the vote for the best name for this beautiful spotted cat together we have attracted many people's attention to the problems of rare animals. And we hope that they will begin to learn more about other endangered species. As for the chosen name, then it is very symbolic, because the leopard represents natural power, and moreover, the name is directly related to Primorye. "
Photo: Ilya Melnikov