٠٠:٠٠:٥٠Mandatory credit: Svetlana Akulova's Telegram channel @svetlanaakulova1
Moscow Zoo's giant panda cub has been named 'Katyusha', after the popular Russian folk song, following a public vote on the city's online portal.
Footage filmed on Wednesday shows the cub herself, born in August 2023 to Ruyi and Ding Ding, with vets measuring the baby as she continued to grow up fast.
Over 380,000 votes were registered, with Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announcing the result the same day. He added that the top three names also included Masha and Mo Mo (after the city), with Katyusha winning with 29 percent of the vote.
The song 'Katyusha' is about a young woman who sings of her love for a soldier serving to protect the Motherland. It includes the lyrics 'Let him keep the Motherland safe, and Katyusha will keep the love safe all right'.
According to the mayor's website, the four-month-old Katyusha now weighs 8.67 kilograms and measures 79.5 centimetres in length, including her tail.
"The baby is getting bigger, stronger and more active every day: she looks, explores everything around her, sniffs things and smells odours. She is becoming more and more confident in walking, even trying to get out of the playpen. Katyusha has learnt to trust people, so she even stopped 'barking' at them. So she no longer seeks to frighten and, perhaps, even enjoys socialising," Sobyanin emphasised.
Katyusha's parents Ding Ding and Ruyi were brought to Moscow from Beijing in 2019.
The opening ceremony of the 'Chinese Fauna' pavilion at the Moscow Zoo was attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, to highlight the significance of the panda conservation programme.
Giant pandas are native to China, with a few leased to other countries for conservation purposes. Ding Ding and Ruyi are part of a scientific initiative aimed at preserving and breeding the rare species.
'Keep the love safe' - Moscow Zoo names giant Panda cub 'Katyusha' following public vote
Moscow Zoo's giant panda cub has been named 'Katyusha', after the popular Russian folk song, following a public vote on the city's online portal.
Footage filmed on Wednesday shows the cub herself, born in August 2023 to Ruyi and Ding Ding, with vets measuring the baby as she continued to grow up fast.
Over 380,000 votes were registered, with Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announcing the result the same day. He added that the top three names also included Masha and Mo Mo (after the city), with Katyusha winning with 29 percent of the vote.
The song 'Katyusha' is about a young woman who sings of her love for a soldier serving to protect the Motherland. It includes the lyrics 'Let him keep the Motherland safe, and Katyusha will keep the love safe all right'.
According to the mayor's website, the four-month-old Katyusha now weighs 8.67 kilograms and measures 79.5 centimetres in length, including her tail.
"The baby is getting bigger, stronger and more active every day: she looks, explores everything around her, sniffs things and smells odours. She is becoming more and more confident in walking, even trying to get out of the playpen. Katyusha has learnt to trust people, so she even stopped 'barking' at them. So she no longer seeks to frighten and, perhaps, even enjoys socialising," Sobyanin emphasised.
Katyusha's parents Ding Ding and Ruyi were brought to Moscow from Beijing in 2019.
The opening ceremony of the 'Chinese Fauna' pavilion at the Moscow Zoo was attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, to highlight the significance of the panda conservation programme.
Giant pandas are native to China, with a few leased to other countries for conservation purposes. Ding Ding and Ruyi are part of a scientific initiative aimed at preserving and breeding the rare species.
Mandatory credit: Svetlana Akulova's Telegram channel @svetlanaakulova1
Moscow Zoo's giant panda cub has been named 'Katyusha', after the popular Russian folk song, following a public vote on the city's online portal.
Footage filmed on Wednesday shows the cub herself, born in August 2023 to Ruyi and Ding Ding, with vets measuring the baby as she continued to grow up fast.
Over 380,000 votes were registered, with Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announcing the result the same day. He added that the top three names also included Masha and Mo Mo (after the city), with Katyusha winning with 29 percent of the vote.
The song 'Katyusha' is about a young woman who sings of her love for a soldier serving to protect the Motherland. It includes the lyrics 'Let him keep the Motherland safe, and Katyusha will keep the love safe all right'.
According to the mayor's website, the four-month-old Katyusha now weighs 8.67 kilograms and measures 79.5 centimetres in length, including her tail.
"The baby is getting bigger, stronger and more active every day: she looks, explores everything around her, sniffs things and smells odours. She is becoming more and more confident in walking, even trying to get out of the playpen. Katyusha has learnt to trust people, so she even stopped 'barking' at them. So she no longer seeks to frighten and, perhaps, even enjoys socialising," Sobyanin emphasised.
Katyusha's parents Ding Ding and Ruyi were brought to Moscow from Beijing in 2019.
The opening ceremony of the 'Chinese Fauna' pavilion at the Moscow Zoo was attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, to highlight the significance of the panda conservation programme.
Giant pandas are native to China, with a few leased to other countries for conservation purposes. Ding Ding and Ruyi are part of a scientific initiative aimed at preserving and breeding the rare species.