A zoo in Oita Prefecture in southwestern Japan that caused public uproar over naming a monkey after Britain's young princess has named a newly born monkey Piko after "Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen" singer Piko Taro.
(Takasakiyama Natural Zoological Garden)
Of the 3,649 entries for a possible name for the first Japanese macaque born this year at the Takasakiyama Natural Zoological Garden in Oita city, 148 went for Piko, beating the 123 entries for Trump after U.S. President Donald Trump and the 65 entries for Mao after Mao Asada, who recently retired from competitive figure skating.
Piko, the monkey, is a female and was born earlier this month and weighs 500 grams, relatively small compared with other baby monkeys that have since arrived, according to the zoo.
Like Piko Taro, who quickly became a well-known figure both at home and abroad with his hit song PPAP after it was uploaded onto YouTube, a zoo official said it hopes Piko will prove an equally big hit with visitors to mountain garden where the monkeys roam.
The zoo drew some criticism in Japan in 2015 after choosing the name Charlotte for a baby monkey that year in honor of Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, the second child of Britain's Prince William and his wife Princess Catherine.
The zoo kept the name after the Oita prefectural government sought advice from the British Embassy in Tokyo. The embassy replied that it had no comment or complaint about the matter, according to prefectural officials.
