Mozart, Merrick, Mele or Manas? Help pick a name for new baby gibbon at Winnipeg zoo

The Winnipeg zoo's cutest new resident needs a name, and you can help pick it.

The white-handed gibbon born at Assiniboine Park Zoo on March 10still doesn't have a name, but you can vote for your favourite among the following choices:

• Mozart, after the famed composer.
• Merrick, whichmeans fame, power or ruler.
• Mele, a Hawaiian song or chant.
• Manas, which meansintelligence or mind.

People canvote onlineuntil midnighton Sunday, and the winning name will be announced on April 12.

All of the names start with M in honour of the baby's mother Maya and grandfather Mel. Two of the names are also music-themed because gibbons make vocalizations that are often referred to as singing.

The names are also gender neutralbecause while zoo staff suspect the baby is male, they haven't done a physical exam yet.

The baby's parents, Maya and Samson, were matched on a recommendation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums species survival plan program.

In 2019, the two had their first child, Salju, who was the first baby gibbon born at the zoo's gibbon habitat, which opened in June 2017.

She was also named with the help of the public.

"With the arrival of spring and warmer weather, the gibbon family will start spending more time exploring outdoors," said Grant Furniss, the senior director of animal care and conservation.

"This is a great time to visit the zoo and our gibbon family."