Handily defeating Melvin but barely beating Nigel, Winston is the name chosen by the public for the Little Rock Zoo’s newest African penguin.

Nearly 1,500 people voted on the three names, chosen by the keepers who are hand-raising Winston to be an Animal Ambassador, an animal that interacts with the public at special events or during education programs. Voting closed Jan. 1. Votes were tallied today with 627 for Winston, 514 for Nigel, 284 for Melvin and 68 write-ins.

Hatched Nov. 2, Winston is waddling around an observation room at the Laura P. Nichols Penguin Pointe exhibit. Once he sheds his down feathers, learns to swim and is strong enough to defend himself from feisty neighbors, guests will be able to see Winston with the rest of the colony. 

Winston is the seventh chick successfully hatched at the Little Rock Zoo and the first to penguin parents Domino and Laura (named for the donor Laura P. Nichols). Their breeding was a recommendation of the African Penguin Species Survival Plan administrated by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. 

There are about 52,000 mature African penguins in the wild, making them an endangered species. Also called jackass penguins because of their braying donkey-like calls, these aquatic birds dine on fish and are well-suited to Arkansas’s climate.