Tiger born at La Pastora Zoo named after French striker Jean Pierre Gignac

A Bengal tiger born six months ago at La Pastora Zoo has been named after French striker Jean Pierre Gignac, who plays for Tigres de la UANL, following a call for suggestions from the state's inhabitants.

Lillian Willcockson Álvarez, Coordinator of Institutional Development for Parks and Wildlife in Nuevo León, stated that, at the proposal of the state executive, a call was made on social media to participate, especially for children, in naming the young feline.

"We received more than three thousand drawings with names, and from there a preselection was made with three names. Then, through social media and 'likes,' the name that predominated the most was Gignac," she commented to Notimex.

Prior to the "formal baptism" of the feline, it was noted that Gignac, the top scorer for Tigres de la UANL, considered it an honor to have his name given to the new resident of La Pastora. As a personal gesture, he sent autographed balls to the winners of the competition.

More than 700 people voted for that name, and a raffle was held to determine the winners.

It was indicated that within this competition, the prize for first place was a drone with a camera, second place received a tablet, and third place won a mountain bike.

The feline is a six-month-old cub, the offspring of a pair of Bengal tigers that live in the same zoo, said the state official.

"Gignac" has been raised by zoo staff located in the municipality of Guadalupe, after the tigress, being a first-time mother, did not tolerate nursing him, she added.

"He is a baby first, he is unique, he is doing very well. He is a tiger with a lot of charisma. Everyone who sees him says he is very playful and cute. And now that all this about the French player is in vogue, there were many people who voted for the name Gignac," she said.

"The player is very happy because they named him like that, after three months of making the call, where children who visited the zoo also participated, not only through social media," she added.

"Gignac really loved that. It was a personal gesture, not because of the team. He feels very honored that people thought of his name. He signed four balls and they will be given to the winners," she commented.

"People directly associated him with their star player, and that is what emerged. We never proposed anything more. We simply called for a name to be given to a tiger that had been born," she expressed.

"We are a football community, we have two teams, some of us are Tigres, some of us are Rayados, but that is what happened, and the tiger will have the name Gignac," concluded Willcockson Álvarez.