Koala cub – new magnet of Chiang Mai Zoo

CHIANG MAI (NNT) -- Many tourists have been flocking to visit a 9-month baby koala named Prongdong (Harmony) at Chiang Mai Zoo in the northern province of Chiang Mai.

Assistant Director of Chiang Mai Zoo, Mr Nipon Wichairat, expected that the new member of the zoo would be popular among tourists as well as people residing in Chiang Mai, particularly children.

Mr Nipon also clarified that the koala cub’s name was selected from entries sent to the naming contest organized by the Zoo and just suited the situation in May when the country needed reconciliation amid the political mayhem.

A Nonthaburi girl, Ms Lapat-rada Mungopart, who created the name, Prongdong, for the koala cub, was awarded 10,000 THB and a 1-year free entrance ticket.

-- NNT 2010-06-04

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Wow a Koala Club.

The Koalas in OZ breed like rabbits.

Koala offspring are called joeys not cubs.

And in case you didn't know it is a marsupial not a bear, that was due to mis-naming by the first British settlers,

Cheers,