Name game: A leopard at the Tata Steel Zoological Park. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Jamshedpur, April 10: Danny, Rocky, Dodo, Jack or Anna — if you had a pet leopard, what would you name it?

The Tata Steel Zoological Park has decided to name the leopard family brought from the rescue centres of Kaziranga National Park in Assam. And the name keepers would be none other than the zoo’s favourite guests, schoolchildren. A three-day girls camp is organised by the Tata Steel Zoological Society where students from four schools are taking part.

“Big cats are special. Moreover, they have no names as they come from rescue centres and not from a zoo. Thus, we have decided to name them and I believe children would surely come up with innovative names,” said M.S. Jain, the director at the Tata Steel Zoological Park.

The pair of leopards was brought in November last year. So far, the animals were addressed with their code numbers. One of the leopards from Kaziranga has also given birth to two cubs recently and the entire family of four would be named on Sunday, the last of the camp. Students will be deciding on the names and the final decision will be taken via a lottery. And the girls, whose suggested name wins, will get awarded, too.

“Each student will be given chits to write their suggested names. After everyone has given their ideas, we will have a lottery. The girls whose names are chosen will be given identity cards and will be entitled to free entry into the zoo for the next one year,” said Jain.

The children have put on their thinking caps and are coming up with names, for the members of the Felidae family. Unlike the usual Shiva and Mithun one encounters at a zoo. The girls are choosing trendier names keeping with the times.

“If I had a leopard or a tiger as a pet, I would name it as Danny or Rocky. Names are something that you identify with and thus it should match with today’s time,” said Prachi Kashyap, a Class VIII student of Motilal Nehru Public School, who was here to learn more about animals.

Kajal Verma, a student of DBMS English School, finds Jack and Anna interesting. “I know they are human names. But the leopards are special, too, like human beings. Hence, they should be given special names too.”

The three-day girls’ camp that started today has been organised to teach students about the flora, fauna and animal behaviour. Students from Classes VI to X are taking part in the camp.

“We want children to understand the importance of nature. It is for the third time that we have organised this camp and we have received a wonderful response,” said Jain.

About 50 students from Motilal Nehru Public School, DBMS English School, Kerala Samajam Model School and Rajendra Vidyalaya are participating in the camp.