Will We Get an Animal Named Josh Allen at the Buffalo Zoo?

Spring means it's the time of year where new baby animals are welcomed at the Buffalo Zoo.

And just like with baby humans, we all have opinions on what they should be named.

There's a lot of Western New Yorkers who want to know:

Why hasn't an animal been named after Josh Allen?

Both the Buffalo Zoo and the Aquarium of Niagara have been in the news recently for holding votes to name their newest additions.

At the Buffalo Zoo, two new lion cubs are being named. The public can vote on their name choices by making a $1 donation to the Buffalo Zoo.

You can cast your vote to name the lion cubs by clicking here.

No Write-in Option

But no write-in names are allowed; votes are between three predetermined name choices for each cub.

Similarly, the Aquarium of Niagara is celebrating the birth of a new eight-tentacled friend -- a baby Pacific red octopus.

Like at the Buffalo Zoo, the public can choose between three options for naming the octopus: “Octavia,” “Bean” or “Squishy.”

You can cast your vote to name the octopus by clicking here.

So it got us thinking, why hasn't 'Josh Allen' showed up yet as an option?

We reached out to the Buffalo Zoo's communications manager Christian Dobosiewicz to see how they come up with names for the animals.

The proposed names for the lion cubs all have significance that's pretty easy to spot -- five of the names honor the lions' original geographic home of East Africa, and one (like any family) is named in honor of Papa Lion, Tiberius.

Forget for a second how adorable naming the cubs "Allen" and "Diggs" would be. That ship has sailed, friends. We need to look forward to future naming opportunities, and we think Bills Mafia can help out on this one.

So, who picks the names?

"Usually, when picking names we let the keepers who work with the animals everyday pick the name or name options for a naming contest," said Dobosiewicz.

"We've had traditional names from the animal's country of origin, to more common names like George the rhino."

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"I do see a lot of people suggesting naming our new lion cubs Josh and Allen or something along those lines," he said, noting it's on the Zoo's radar.

So you're saying there's a chance?

"Maybe someday," said Dobosiewicz.

We need someone on the inside...

It seems that the animals' caretakers have the biggest influence in deciding names. There's got to be more than a few Bills fans among the Zoo's staff...but clearly not enough to turn the tables -- er, break the tables -- on the naming game.

You know what to do Mafia. Time to wear only Bills gear to the Buffalo Zoo. Don't even think of visiting Luna the polar bear if you aren't wearing Zubaz. Engage the local wildlife by shouting, "heyyyy-ey-ey-eyyy" to identify other Mafia in the wild.

We can do this.