Vienna zoo names baby panda 'Happy Leopard'

Vienna's new baby panda will be named Fu Bao, or Happy Leopard in Mandarin, the city's Schoenbrunn Zoo announced on Thursday, three months after he was born.

The tiny furball caused a sensation when he was born on August 14, giving the zoo its third panda birth in six years.

Schoenbrun is the only zoo in Europe where pandas—notoriously picky partners—have reproduced naturally, without artificial insemination.

Mother Yang Yang and father Long Hui had a first cub in 2007, later named Fu Long, or Happy Dragon in Chinese.

His brother Fu Hu—Happy Tiger—followed exactly three years later on August 23, 2010.

Both cubs have been returned to China, which only lends pandas to foreign zoos and claims ownership of any cubs born abroad.

According to Chinese tradition, Schoenbrunn Zoo waited 100 days before naming the new cub. The Chinese authorities were also consulted on the name.

"The leopard is considered a courageous and very strong animal in China, alongside the dragon and the tiger," zoo director Dagmar Schratter said Thursday to explain the choice.

At just over three months old, Fu Bao measures over 60 centimetres (two feet) and weighs six kilogrammes (13 pounds). The cub has remained mostly hidden from sight so far, cared for by its mother.

The zoo will hold a naming ceremony on Sunday—without the still shy Fu Bao, it said.