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Metro

The National Zoo Is Asking the Public to Name Its Red Panda Cub

The cub with a coat of many colors could be named after Dolly Parton.

New zoo red panda

The cub was born in June at a conservation campus in Front Royal, Virginia, to 3-year-old female Keahi and 7-year-old male Rocket. (Brooke McDonough/Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute)

By Justice Covert

October 16, 2026 10:34 a.m.

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The Smithsonian’s National Zoo is asking the public to vote on one of three name options for a red panda cub, including one that pays homage to the Queen of Country.

The cub was born in June at a conservation campus in Front Royal, Virginia, to 3-year-old female Keahi and 7-year-old male Rocket.

The 4-month-old female cub has already “distinguished herself with bold and feisty behavior,” officials said. Still, the cub is unnamed, and the zoo is looking for help deciding what to call her.

The three name candidates are “Pyra,” which the zoo says means “heat” in Greek, “Dolpa,” a region of Nepal home to wild red pandas, and “Dolly,” inspired by country music legend Dolly Parton.

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Two weeks before the cub’s birth, two other red panda cubs were born on the campus. Since the births, keepers and staff have closely monitored the three. Red pandas generally have low survival rates, the zoo said in the birth announcement.

“The cubs are really just balls of fur that eat and sleep right now,” said Jessica Kordell, assistant curator of carnivores, in an August news release.

The public can cast their ballots online until Saturday, and the winning name will be announced shortly after.

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Author

Justice Covert Justice Covert is a reporter at The Washington Sun.

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