What Is the Name of the Pittsburgh Zoo’s Baby Lion Cub?
A total of 1,141 names were submitted through a public naming contest, but the final choice honors both proud parents.
PHOTO BY OLLIE GRATZINGER | HONDO WITH HIS CUB, KIAZI, WHO ZOO OFFICIALS CALL “HIS LITTLE IDAHO POTATO.”
The Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium’s newest resident officially has a name.
At a press event on Monday, zoo officials introduced its 3-month-old African lion cub to the public for the first time. After months of anticipation, attendees met Kiazi, a playful and fast little lady who could be seen pouncing on her patient parents, Scarlett and Hondo, and proudly carrying around a big stick she found in her enclosure.
The announcement follows a “Dub the Cub” naming contest that concluded July 17; in exchange for a $5 donation to the zoo’s conservation efforts, folks could suggest a name for the new cub. And suggest, they did.
“Since our little cub was born on Easter Sunday, we had many Easter-themed names. We also had many names suggested that were all about Pittsburgh,” says Jeremy Goodman, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium.
He adds that there were many suggestions for Nala, paying homage to the Lion King, and for uniquely yinzer monikers, including Nala-gheny.
“Out of the 1,141 names entered, our keeper selected a name that was a combination of her mother Scarlett’s roots in Africa and her father Hondo’s roots in this country,” Goodman says.
Kiaza means “potato” in Swahili, a Bantu language spoken across East and Central Africa, where Scarlett is from. When Kiaza was born, Goodman says she “looked like and was about the size of a potato,” but that isn’t the only reason why she was given the spud-inspired sobriquet. Hondo came to Pittsburgh from the Idaho Falls Zoo in Idaho, the top potato-producing state in the U.S.
“Since she is Hondo’s first offspring and he is from Idaho, keepers loved the name,” says assistant curator of mammals Karen Vacco. “Hondo’s little Idaho potato.”
The timing of the announcement was equally intentional. Of course, Kiazi had to be big enough and healthy enough to hold her own in the enclosure, and she had to first be properly socialized with the other lions so that they’d accept her into their pride. But that milestone closely coincided with another important date, so the timing just made sense, officials say.
“The fact that we’re making this announcement on Aug. 10 is not random. Today is World Lion Day, where we celebrate these magnificent animals, and we educate all people on the threats they face in the wild,” Goodman says. “It’s our hope that when people come to see this cub and her entire pride, that they connect to these animals and are inspired by them, and they learn about what our zoo is doing to save them in the wild.”
According to the Pittsburgh Zoo’s website, African Lion populations have declined nearly 50% over the last three decades. The zoo is a member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ African Lion SAFE program, which supports conservation efforts that balance both the needs of lions and their habitats and the needs of the local communities where they live.
Kiazi’s birth is also a momentous step in the worldwide conservation effort for African Lions.
The 1,141 “thoughtful, thematic, funny, beautiful and heartwarming” name suggestions also netted $5,705 to help support Kiazi, the lions and “all the incredible animals at the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium,” zoo officials add.
