Skip to main content
Netherlands News in English

Main navigation

  • Top stories
  • Health
  • Crime
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Tech
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Weird
  • 1-1-2
Image
Mother western lowland gorilla Aya holds her newborn baby.
Mother western lowland gorilla Aya holds her newborn baby. - Credit: Rotterdam Zoo / Rotterdam Zoo - License: All Rights Reserved
Culture
Entertainment
Rotterdam zoo
baby gorilla
Ajabu
Aya
Bokito
Sunday, 27 March 2022 - 11:50

Share this article:

Rotterdam Zoo announces baby gorilla name

After letting people vote on the name of a newborn baby gorilla, the Rotterdam Zoo has announced the infant is called Ajabu. The name means "miracle" in Afrikaans.

Between the Afrikaans names Amadi, Ajabu and Anayo, the second name received almost half of all votes, according to the zoo's website. The zoo urged people to visit, as the gorilla baby can often be seen being cradled by its mother in their enclosure.

🥁 Het gorillajong heeft een naam… Van de drie Afrikaanse namen hebben jullie afgelopen week het meest gestemd op: Ajabu (wonder). Een mooie naam die bijna de helft van de stemmen kreeg. Heb je Ajabu al kunnen bewonderen? pic.twitter.com/pNkzISpfkJ

— Diergaarde Blijdorp (@RotterdamZoo) March 26, 2022

Ajabu was unexpectedly born to mother Aya and father Bokito on Feb. 11. All name choices began with the letter "A," since the zoo has a tradition of giving the baby a name with the same first letter as the mother's name.

More like this

Image
Silverback Shomari together with Uzuri.
Four gorillas set to arrive at Rotterdam Zoo Blijdorp in temporary transfer
Image
Tendai, an African elephant born at Beekse Bergen on 19 February 2024. Tendai is the third African elephant calf born at the safari park since November. The other two, Mosi and Ajabu, are visible in the background
Video: Third baby African elephant born at Beekse Bergen safari park
Make NL Times your top Google source

Follow us:

Latest stories

  • Dutch government apologizes for forced infant adoptions between 1956 and 1984
  • Video: WHO declares hantavirus outbreak that started on Dutch cruise ship over
  • Amsterdam’s Delflandpleinbuurt declared nuisance area amid drug crimes, safety concerns
  • New summer course boosts Dutch fluency and confidence in just two weeks
  • Netherlands to mandate internship pay for all students regardless of education level

Top stories

  • Video: Dutch police arrest more than 270 after A12 highway blockade near Utrecht
  • Dutch woman, travel partner abducted, sexually assaulted in Pakistan; Gang rape alleged
  • Video: Morocco World Cup win triggers unrest in The Hague, Rotterdam; 29 arrested
  • UK think tank links drone flights above Dutch air bases to Russian shadow fleet
  • Cape Verde fans in Netherlands emphasize pride in team after 3-2 loss to Argentina

© 2012-2026, NL Times, All rights reserved.

Footer menu

  • Change Privacy Settings
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • Partner Content