PENGUIN NAMED AFTER BHTM?

03/07/07

CBS4 Suggestion 'Tux' Wins Penguin Naming Contest

(CBS4) DENVER CBS4 viewers and cbs4denver.com users were the winners Tuesday in a contest held by the Denver Zoo to name a new African penguin. The CBS4 suggested name of "Tux" was the top vote getter on the zoo's Web site, beating out suggestions from two other Denver TV stations and their viewers.

More than 9,000 people voted online through denverzoo.org to pick the name. "Tux" was the winner with 39 percent of the votes.

Usually when a baby arrives at the Denver Zoo, someone at the zoo gets the privilege of naming the animal. This time around the zoo decided to do things a little differently.

More than 600 people submitted name suggestions to cbs4denver.com last month. Users were then able to vote for the most popular suggestion to our Web site. CBS4 forwarded that name to Denver Zoo and it competed against the other media suggestions.

The name "Tux" beat out the other two suggestions of "Dassen" and "Shivers."

The male penguin hatched at the zoo on Oct. 18. He will be wearing a yellow arm band for easy identification.

"The zoo participates in a program called the species survival plan," Denver Zoo's penguin keeper Travis Garrett said. "It's a way of managing our captive populations in North America to maintain the genetic diversity. This is a recommended breeding."

The penguin's parents are named Big Head Todd and Ruth.