Berlin zoo to keep politics out of panda names after public picks Hong and Kong
- Keepers in Germany say too early to tell gender of Meng Meng’s twins
- Panda breeding experts in China have last word on names given to cubs born overseas
Berlin zoo has said it wants to keep politics out of the naming of its two newborn panda cubs after readers of a German newspaper voted for them to be called Hong and Kong, Global Times reported on Monday.
The zoo, which said it would work with Chinese experts to name the cubs once their gender became clear, told the tabloid: “We want to fundamentally distance ourselves from these reports on the naming of the panda twins.”
The Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in southwestern Sichuan province has the rights to, and the last word on, naming pandas born overseas, according to the report.
A poll by the Berlin newspaper Tagesspiegel for name suggestions for the twins born at the zoo on August 31 to six-year-old Meng Meng led to Hong and Kong topping the list in recognition of weeks of anti-government protests in Hong Kong.
Other choices included Joshua Wong Chi-fung and Agnes Chow Ting, after the two Hong Kong political campaigners arrested on August 30 on suspicion of unlawful assembly during the protests.