London Zoo Names Newborn Animal after Royal-to-Be Meghan Markle
Fans of the royal family have been excitedly welcoming a new arrival. In the middle of December, a new royal baby was born. Sort of.
In the middle of the month, the London Zoo welcomed a new baby.
Keepers have named the baby Meghan, after Meghan Markle, the fiancée of Prince Harry.
Zookeeper Gemma Metcalf told The Daily Mail: “A new birth is always cause for celebration, but Meghan’s important arrival is also a great opportunity to draw attention to the okapi, which is an extremely endangered species.”
In an interesting twist, the okapi was a species whose discovery was propagated by a Harry.
Harry Johnston, a British explorer, was very active in Africa and helped bring the species to the attention of the world at large.
He originally discovered them in Congo, in 1901.
This new baby was born after a 30-minute labor by her mother Oni. Oni had been pregnant for 14 months.
Okapis are members of the giraffe family. Like their more famous cousins, they use their long, rough tongues to grab high branches of trees and pull the leaves off of them.
The animals are currently listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List.
This means that they are considered an endangered species.
For now, the baby is adapting well to her new life as Metcalf said, “We’re very pleased with how mother and baby are doing. Oni is being very attentive, making sure she regularly licks her clean and keeping a watchful eye over Meghan as she sleeps.”
There’s been no official word yet on if Markle will be out to visit her namesake anytime soon.
One can only speculate what she thinks of the honor.
It certainly can’t be a surprise to her though, given the intense fascination that people around the world seem to have with Britain’s royal family.
It’s also most certainly not the first baby that will be named after the soon-to-be princess.
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