San Francisco Zoo holds naming contest for new koala

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Photo: Marianne Hale / San Francisco Zoo

SAN FRANCISCO - The San Francisco Zoo is holding an online contest to name its newest koala and it's pledging to donate the proceeds to save wildlife affected by Australia's deadly wildfires.

The 2-year-old male arrived from the Los Angeles Zoo, where he was known as Flin. He gets to assume new identity in his new home, however, following the San Francisco Zoo's fundraising tradition of allowing donors to name new arrivals.

The winner of the name-the-koala contest will be selected next month and proceeds will be sent an emergency wildlife fund organized by Australia's Zoos Victoria.

Australia’s unprecedented wildfires season has so far charred 40,000 square miles of brushland, rainforests, and national parks - killing by one estimate more than a billion wild animals. Scientists fear some of the island continent’s unique and colorful species may not recover.

For more information, visit the SF Zoo website here.