The mascot of the World Cup. What is the icon?

On September 24th, 2008, the mascot of the 20 10 World Cup in South Africa was announced. It's a green curly-haired leopard "Zakumi". Zakumi's name is exquisite. In African indigenous languages, "ZA" stands for South Africa and "Miku" stands for 10, which means that the World Cup in South Africa will be held in 20 10. At the same time, this leopard's birthday was set at1June, 1994 16, the day when the apartheid policy in South Africa came to an end. In other words, Zakumi is 14 years old this year. Including Zakumi, the World Cup is the fifth time that animals have been used as mascots. As Zakumi is a local endangered leopard in South Africa, the South African World Cup Organizing Committee is eager to make him an "image ambassador" and publicize some ideas of protecting animals.