Naming of Everland's twin pandas kicks off

Giant panda twins celebrate their 48th day since birth at the Everland zoo in Yongin, Gyeonggi, on Thursday. [EVERLAND]

Everland, a theme park in Yongin, Gyeonggi, has begun accepting proposals for the names of its newly-born giant pandas.

The twin pandas were born on July 11, and on Thursday, Everland started receiving name suggestions through its social media channels such as YouTube, Instagram, and its Naver online community.

The selection process involves Everland employees, including zookeepers, who will curate a list of 10 names for each panda. These names will be chosen based on factors such as the pandas' characteristics, the meanings of the names, and their pronunciations.

The list will then be narrowed down to four names for each panda through an online voting process conducted on Everland's website.

The name of each panda will be determined through a combined online and offline voting system. The voting will take place on Everland's website, social media channels, and even inputs from visitors to the panda enclosure.

The names for the twin pandas will be announced in October, which marks their 100th day since birth.

The pandas, now 48 days old, have grown significantly, now weighing roughly 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds). When they were born, they weighed 180 grams (0.39 pounds) and 140 grams each.

Everland plans to introduce the twin pandas to the public when they are around 6 months old, once they get adapted to their new environment.

The twins' parents, Le Bao, a male aged 10, and Ai Bao, a female aged 9, along with their 3-year-old sister Fu Bao, all share the Chinese character "Bao" in their name, meaning "treasure."

Pandas on loan from China for diplomatic purposes in 13 countries including the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom, all have Chinese names.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]