FRESNO (KMJ) — After weeks of voting, the new lion cub at Fresno Chaffee Zoo now has a name.
The recent addition, born on October 11th 2016, will be known as ‘Kijani’ which means ‘warrior’ in Swahili. The choice of six names was put to the public vote between November 11th and November 27th. The winner received 480 votes – the second most popular name ‘Enzi’ (meaning ‘powerful’ in Swahili) received 267 votes.
Each vote was cast with a $1 token, raising $1,437 through the ‘Name the Mane’ promotion. The funds will be going to the Ruaha Carnivore Project, which helps big animals such as lions, in Tanzania.
“The Ruaha Carnivore Project is one of the many conservation organizations that the Fresno Chaffee Zoo supports annually”, reveals Director of Fresno Chaffee Zoo Scott Barton.
“In 2015, we donated $2,500 and in 2016 we increased that amount to $4,000. So, including an additional donation of $1,437 is something we are really excited to give”.
Click here to find out more about the Ruaha Carnivore Project.
Hear the report from KMJ’s Dominic McAndrew as it aired:
