LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) – The Louisville Zoo’s newest maned wolf pups have officially been named, the zoo announced on Thursday.
An online voting contest resulted in the names “Cora” and “Catina.” Cora is short for Coração, a Portuguese word meaning “heart.” The name was submitted by zookeepers because the pups were born on Valentine’s Day.
Catina is also a Portuguese name, commonly used for girls and meaning “pure.” The zoo says they will likely refer to the wolf as “Cat” for short.
Other names that were under consideration in the public poll were “Marcelle and Angela,” “Ginger and Ruby Rudy,” “Winona and Tahshah” and “Ramona and Beatrice.”
Cora and Catina are the first maned wolf pups born at the Louisville Zoo in ten years.
The maned wolf is native to South America and can be found throughout Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru and Uruguay. Though maned wolves are generally solitary, during the breeding season they come together in semi-monogamous pairs. The maned wolf is an omnivore: half of their diet is fruit supplemented with small mammals, birds and reptiles, insects, nuts, eggs and grass. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species lists the maned wolf as near threatened.
