The votes are in for the name of the Toronto Zoo’s newest baby zebra.
The zoo’s young male foal, who was born on Feb. 13, 2019, has officially been named ‘Obi,’ which follows the zoo’s pattern of naming baby zebras after ‘Star Wars’ characters.
Other zebras born at the zoo have been named ‘Luke,’ ‘Leia,’ and ‘Rey.’
The Toronto Zoo received feedback from more than 7,500 people, who were asked to take part in a Facebook vote to determine the best name for the newest addition to the zebra family.
Obi is the third foal his mother Tori, an eight-year-old Grevy's zebra, has given birth to at the Toronto Zoo.
“This birth is important for Grevy's zebra conservation as the species is currently listed as Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species and the current global population is only 2,800,” the zoo said in a news release issued Tuesday.
“Grevy's zebras were first put on the IUCN list in 1986, after their population began to decline due to over-hunting in the late 1970s. Today, Grevy's zebras are primarily found in Kenya and Ethiopia and, over the past 30 years, their global population has declined by approximately 70.”
Tori and Obi will be available for public viewing sometime this spring.
