Gainesville public names zoo's baby otters

GAINESVILLE, Fla., Nov. 1 (UPI) -- Florida zoo officials said they picked names for 6-month-old twin brother-and-sister otter pups from about 1,000 names solicited from the public.

The Asian small-clawed otter babies, born April 30, could not be named until officials at the Santa Fe College Teaching Zoo in Gainesville, Fla., could determine the otters' sex, the Gainesville Sun reported.

The zoo rejected names such as "Oliver and Olivia" and "Scratch and Sniff" that would have required the pair to be kept together in order to work, John Miot, the zoo's assistant director said.

Because the zoo is part of a national-level association, the brother and sister might not always be in the same locations, Miot said.

"I thought of 'Webster' because otters have webbed feet" Greir Young, a retired University of Florida professor, said of his winning entry for the male otter.

The female's name is "Asia," proposed by Jackie Class of Gainesville, who submitted "Asia" and "Minor" when she heard the otter pups were Asian.