Help the Columbus Zoo name its rare polar bear cub

Missing springtime trips to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium?

Though you can’t visit the zoo now because it remains closed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the public is being offered the opportunity to vote to name its 4-month-old male polar bear cub from home.

He’s a “60-pound furry ball of energy” that isn’t afraid to roll around in the dirt, according to his keepers.

You can choose from the following names in an online poll:

Corky, to celebrate the 160th anniversary of Armstrong World Industries, a ceiling, wall and grid system manufacturing company that started as a cork manufacturer and has supported the zoo for many years. It has a facility in Hilliard.Minik, the Inuit word for “splash,” because the cub is a talented swimmer and loves jumping into the water.Kulu, an Inuit term of endearment, honoring the bond between him, his zookeepers and his mother, 13-year-old Aurora.

Visit columbuszoo.org/namethecub to cast your vote. Voting ends at 11:59 p.m. April 20.

The winning name will be announced on April 22, the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.

We are launching this naming opportunity and inviting you to help us name this male polar bear cub! The choices are Minik, Kulu and Corky. Cast your vote through April 20: https://t.co/vsW3YJPgJj pic.twitter.com/sHSFEHaStA— Columbus Zoo (@ColumbusZoo) April 2, 2020

The cub, born Nov. 28, 2019, was the only baby polar bear born at any North American zoo last year. Since 2015, 11 polar bear cubs have been reared in North American zoos, eight in the U.S., according to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, a nonprofit group of more than 230 accredited institutions in the U.S. and abroad, including the Columbus Zoo.

Columbus has had four cubs, the most of any institution.

>>> Read more: More polar bear cubs born at Columbus Zoo than any North American zoo in recent years

The newest cub’s father is 20-year-old Lee, who moved to Columbus in 2018 from the Denver Zoo. This is his first cub. Aurora, meanwhile, has birthed three other healthy cubs that are now living at other zoos — Nora, born in 2015, and twins Neva and Nuniq, born in 2017.

The association recommends breeding pairs to increase the genetic diversity of polar bears in human care.

It’s estimated only 20,000 to 25,000 polar bears are left in the wild, and that number will continue to decline, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. In 2008, polar bears were listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act, due to climate change and the expected loss of the sea-ice habitats in which they hunt.