Sioux Falls Zoo & Aquarium (SFZA) team is thrilled to announce the names of some new additions to both campuses – the four-month-old penguin chick at Great Plains Zoo (GPZ) and the axolotl trio at Butterfly House & Aquarium (BHA).

The name “Puddles” has been selected for GPZ’s penguin chick. This name was chosen by the family of Dr. Clarissa Barnes and Chris Dabney, who won naming rights in the Zoofari silent auction. The family is longtime fans and supporters of the zoo. The couple and their children, Chloe, Callen, and Cora, particularly love the penguins, and all submitted names for consideration. “Puddles” was ultimately chosen by the family, inspired by a sonnet written by daughter Chloe about a penguin with that name.

“We love the zoo,” said Barnes. “Even when we lived in other parts of South Dakota, we always made it a point to come back to Sioux Falls to visit the zoo – and the penguins! Chloe is currently a Junior Zookeeper, and all of the children have participated in ZooCamps.”

After a month-long online voting campaign, the three axolotls at BHA officially have names, as welll. The public was invited to donate $3 to select one of three names for each axolotl, and three clear winners rose to the top. The pink male axolotl’s name is “Kirby.” The male wild-type/dark-colored axolotl is “Montezuma” (Monte). The female wild-type/dark-colored axolotl is named “Mudkip.”

Puddles and the axolotl trio are viewable in their exhibits. GPZ is open daily from 9 am-5 pm (last admission 4 pm) and BHA is open from 10 am-4 pm (last admission 3:30 pm).

Learn more about SFZA admission and memberships!