SINGAPORE — Almost a month after Singapore welcomed its first giant panda cub, members of the public will be invited to suggest a name for the baby, announced on Friday (Sept 10) to be a male cub. 

This was revealed by Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS), which said that the name of the cub will be chosen before it turns 100 days old on Nov 21.

The panda cub was born on Aug 14 to Jia Jia and Kai Kai, who had succeeded in birthing the cub on their seventh breeding season that began in April.

WRS said that as a guide, the name should be catchy and easy to remember, and reflect characters with “positive meanings or attributes”.

It should also have relevance to Singapore heritage and culture as well as “reflect the significance of the friendship between Singapore and China”. 

Mr Tan Chuan-Jin, Speaker of Parliament and deputy chairman of Mandai Park Holdings, will chair a judging panel that will oversee the process. Mandai Park Holdings oversees the business and strategic development of WRS.

The panel will include representatives from academia, the Chinese Embassy in Singapore, relevant government agencies and WRS.

“Shortlisted names will be released for public voting and the panda cub will take the name with the most number of votes,” WRS said. 

The call for name suggestions was made while the cub’s gender was unveiled at the River Safari in front of staff members and the media on Friday. 

To reveal the gender, the baby’s father, Kai Kai, who was also celebrating its upcoming 14th birthday on Friday, bit some carrots attached to a box, which then opened to reveal blue confetti — signalling that the baby is male. 

WRS said that the gender of the cub was determined through a series of visual assessments performed by WRS’ panda care team, who confirmed ​​the presence of “external male genitalia”. 

Dr Cheng Wen-Haur, deputy chief executive officer and chief life sciences officer at WRS, said that the cub’s mother, Jia Jia, has been caring for the cub and has “exceeded all expectations” in doing so. 

“While supporting Jia Jia’s care of the cub, we were able to determine the cub’s gender through close visual observation and will only retrieve the cub for veterinary checks when the time is right,” Dr Cheng said. 

Kai Kai, 13, and Jia Jia, 12, arrived in Singapore in September 2012. They are here on a 10-year loan from China.

Giant pandas are notoriously difficult to breed and have a narrow window once a year to do so. Last month, their conservation threat status improved from endangered to vulnerable.

To find out how to take part in the naming of the cub, go to www.wrs.com.sg/pandacub. Members of the public have until the end of Sept 19 to enter their submissions.