As royal fans finally found out what the Duke and Duchess named their third child, keepers at Blackpool Zoo have decided to honour it in the best way: by naming a camel calf born on the same day, Louis.
The small, double-humped Bactrian camel calf also arrived on Monday 23 April and his camel mum, Tibet, and he are “doing well”. Just like the Duchess, Tibet isn’t a first-time mum but she is slightly ahead of the Duchess with five births under her belt. Tibet gave birth in the camel birthing suite at Blackpool Zoo after a 13-month pregnancy (wow).
“We were all delighted to welcome our first camel calf of the year and he was spotted by keepers just as news broke that the Duchess of Cambridge had gone into labour,” said Johnpaul Houston, assistant head keeper at Blackpool Zoo. “We are hoping for some more calves to join Louis as the season gets into full swing and any additional arrivals will share the same father, who is called Sid.”
Houston explained that Louis the camel is special as he is a domestic Bactrian camel, whose wild Mongolian cousins are critically endangered.
“There are less than 600 remaining in their native Gobi and the Taklimakan deserts of Mongolia and Xinjiang,” he added. “Bactrian camels have two humps, whilst the Dromedary camel has just one.”
It was revealed on Friday 27 April that the royal couple named their third child Louis shocking royal fans, who assumed the most likely name for the third royal baby would be Albert, Arthur or James.
The name Louis is of German and French origin meaning “renowned warrior”. It is currently the 71st most popular boys’ name in the UK, according to the Office for National Statistics, with 911 babies being given the name in 2016. Louis is also one of Prince George’s middle names.