Help Name the Zebra Foal!

Five names in the running for the Detroit Zoo's zebra foal:
Bella, Chloe, Holly, Noel and Zahara

“Zahara the zebra” has a nice ring according to several people who responded to the Detroit Zoo’s invitation to help name its female Grevy’s zebra foal born December 26.  The Zoo received over 2,000 name suggestions and has narrowed the field to five.  The other contenders are Bella, Chloe, Holly and Noel.  The community has until February 29 to vote for their favorite name. 

What’s in a name?  Zahara is Arabic for “flower.”  Noel and Holly are references to the foal’s birth the day after Christmas.  Chloe means “blooming” in Greek, and Bella is Italian for “beautiful.”

The foal’s black-and-white striped hide inspired submissions such as Barcode, Oreo, Ref and, of course, Stripes.  Many who had their thinking caps on inside out suggested Arbez, which is zebra spelled backwards.  Others proposed Jules in honor of Jules Grevy, former president of the French Republic after whom the species is named. 

Name suggestions for the zebra foal were submitted online, and a panel of Detroit Zoo staffers culled the list to their top five favorites.  The name that receives the most votes in the Zoo’s online poll will be announced next month.

The foal is the daughter of 15-year old Elvira and 6-year old ZZ.  She currently is kept indoors at the zebra habitat most days due to cold weather, but can be seen outdoors near her mother on milder days.

VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE NAME HERE