Philly Zoo Gets 3 New African Cattle, Public Asked To Help Name Them

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Zoo has new members of its eclectic animal family with the arrival of three Ankole-Watusi cattle, and the public is invited to help name the three beasts.

Called "Cattle of Kings," Ankole are renowned for massive crescent or lyre-shaped horns, measuring up to 8-feet wide, that continue to grow as the animals age, eventually weighing up to 15 pounds each.

Gentle in nature and massive in size, Ankole can weigh between 1,200 and 1,600 pounds.

In celebration of the Ankole’s arrival, the zoo is enlisting the help of the public to name their new residents.

Selecting from a list of names developed by zookeepers, and in line with the traditions of Uganda’s Banyankole people, originators of the Ankole breed, the suggested names are based on the color of the cattle’s hair or on its personality.

Staff from the Zoo have narrowed down their choices

Name options for the three are:

Speckled Brown & White Ankole Cattle

• Ngabu (pronounced Nn-gah-boo, meaning "speckled white and brown")
• Yamaani (pronounced Yah-mah-nee, meaning "energetic")

Dark Brown Ankole Cattle

• Gaaju (pronounced Gah-joo, meaning "dark chocolate brown")
• Kuburanganiza (pronounced Koo-boo-ran-gah-nee-zah, meaning "curious")

Reddish Brown Ankole Cattle

• Mbaale (pronounced Mm-bah-lay, meaning "reddish-brown")
• Kutekaana (pronounced Koo-tay-kah-nah, meaning "calm")

Cast your votes for the names online here.

Names will be announced on May 16.

"We are thrilled to bring this striking breed to the Zoo for the first time in our 163-year history," said Michael Stern, the Zoo’s Andrew J. Baker Curator of Primates & Small Mammals and Acting Curator of Carnivores & Ungulates. "We are certain they will enhance our visitor’s experience while highlighting the conservation work the Zoo supports in Uganda. There, through work with the New Nature Foundation, the Zoo empowers people to live in greater harmony with nature, and our new Ankole cattle will help to share that important story."

Native to East Africa, Ankole are descendants of an ancient breed of cattle that lived in the Nile Valley around 4000 BC.

Traditionally considered sacred, Ankole supplied milk, and only rarely meat, as an owner’s wealth was counted in livestock.

As domesticated cattle, Ankole are not threatened, thanks to the dedicated efforts of breeders and zoos, but their cousins in the wild can be at the interface of human-wildlife interactions.