COLUMBUS – The polar bear cub born at the Columbus Zoo in November has a name: Nora.
The name was the top vote-getter out of a total of 88,061 online ballots cast since Jan. 19 in an international contest to choose from four options the zoo staff recommended, according to officials at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.
Nora is a combination of the cub’s parents’ names, Nanuq and Aurora.
The other options were Kaya, meaning “little but wise”; Sakari, meaning “sweet,” and Desna, meaning “boss”.
Zoo officials say votes came from 115 countries, mostly the U.S., France, Brazil, Canada and the United Kingdom.
Nora was born on Nov. 6 in the Polar Frontier region at the zoo.
The staff at the zoo says Aurora began leaving the fragile newborn alone for prolonged periods of time and, under guidance of the Species Survival Plan, a program created by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, zoo officials stepped in and raised the cub by hand.
She weighed about one pound at birth but now weighs 18 pounds and has recently been growing up to an inch a week, zoo officials said.
Nora has gone from learning how to walk to running and galloping.
Staff members have introduced her to water via a small tub.