A koala with striking white fur was recently born at the Australia Zoo in Queensland, and she already has an adoring fan base. Now all she needs is a name. As Mashable reports, the zoo is calling on the public for suggestions on what to call the exceptional joey.
The baby, who is one of several newborn koalas living at the zoo, climbed out of her motherâs pouch for the first time not too long ago. When she made her public debut, she revealed a coat of white fur rarely seen in her species. According to the zoo, the koala isnât albino. Rather, she got her pale shade from a recessive gene inherited from her mother known as a âsilvering gene.â Though the light coloration is currently the koalaâs defining feature, thereâs a good chance sheâll eventually grow out of it and take on the gray-and-white look thatâs typical for her species.
For now, the Australia Zoo is celebrating the birth of its first-ever white koala joey by getting the public involved in the naming process. On the post announcing the zooâs new arrival, commenters have so far suggested Pearl, Snowy, Luna, and Kao (from the Thai word for âwhiteâ) as names to match the babyâs immaculate appearance. There are also a few pop culture-related proposals, including Olaf after the character in Frozen and Daenerys in honor of Game of Thrones .
Instead of deciding the koalaâs name by popular vote, the zoo will select the winner from their favorite submissions. And with nearly 5000 comments on the original Facebook post to choose from, the joey will hopefully have better luck than the animals named by the public before her. (The Koalay McKoala Face does have a certain ring to it.)
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