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From Pouch Potato to Clover.
The votes are in, and the Toronto Zoo says the winning name of their newest southern hairy-nosed wombat baby, affectionately known as #TZPouchPotato, is Clover.
Voters had to choose between that and Nellie, Melba and Matilda.
“This is a really, really big deal for us,“ said Toronto Zoo Chief Executive Officer Dolf DeJong at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon,
“It’s been over 30 years since we had a youngster like this, born here, at your Toronto Zoo. And to make it even more special, we had had literally 16,000 members of our community weigh in to cast a vote. ”
Australian Consul-General was in attendance for name reveal
Also on hand was Shelley Jackson from the Australian Consul-General in Toronto, who had a role in suggesting, supporting and selecting the name options.
“We in Australia love our wombats and our marsupial babies, kangaroo and koala amongst them, and we’re just so happy to see Torontonians have embraced the wombat joey (baby) and we are sure that they will be very happy in this beautiful environment of the Toronto Zoo. We look forward to following the journey as they grow up here.”
Full pouch emergence for Clover is expected later this fall.
“The name comes from a really authentic and amazing place,” said DeJong. “Matilda, the mother, clover is one of her favourites foods. If you actually look at the bowl in the habitat, you’ll see, she has some of that in there. We’re just so grateful for all the support and we can share that baby and mom are doing so well thanks to our member staff. They’ve been caring for this individuals for almost a year now.”
Baby marsupials spend eight to 10 months in their mother’s pouch after birth, said DeJong, and they live between 20 to 30 years under care of humans.
Clover’s father is named Arthur.
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