Names of twin panda cubs born in Austrian zoo revealed

Giant Panda twin cubs which were born on August 7, 2016, are seen in this handout photograph dated October 27, 2016, released on November 3, 2016, at Schoenbrunn Zoo in Vienna, Austria. [Photo/Agencies]

VIENNA - The twin panda cubs born at the Schoenbrunn Zoo in Vienna, Austria have now been given their names, the zoo announced on Thursday.

The zoo had put the naming of the male cub up for online vote on its homepage. It said about 12,000 people voted from three possible options over the past two weeks, with the largest proportion of voters, 48.3 percent, choosing "Fu Ban."

The name means "lucky half," playing on his nature as a twin.

The zoo chose the name for the female cub itself, revealing it as "Fu Feng", with "feng" referring to "phoenix."

Zoo Director Dagmar Schratter explained that as the first cub born at the zoo was named "Fu Long" ("lucky dragon"), the name phoenix was chosen in keeping with the Chinese mythological pairing of dragon and phoenix as a celestial couple.