CHICAGO — After a nationwide vote, the Lincoln Park Zoo's baby klipspringer officially has a name.
The zoo announced Thursday the baby calf's name would be Asha, which means "hope" in Swahili.
Klipspringer is Afrikaans for "rock jumper" and the animal is a type of dwarf antelope that lives in areas of central and eastern Africa.
Zoo officials narrowed the selection down to five Swahili names — the native language of Congo, Tanzania and Kenya, where klipspringers can be found in the wild — before asking the public to make the final decision.
Of the 3,650 votes case, Asha came out on top, garnering 32 percent of the vote. Zuri, which means "pretty," came in second and Amira, which means "princess," came in third.
Zoo goers will still have to wait to see Asha, who is still being hand-reared by her keepers. The baby calf now weighs 6.6 pounds.
Asha is not the only addition to the zoo this spring, which is seeing a "little bit of a baby boom," said spokeswoman Sharon Dewar.
A lemur and takin have been born since Asha was born in March, and the zoo is expecting more new additions in the coming weeks, Dewar said.
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