Bronx Zoo cobra that went missing is named Mia

The Bronx Zoo will announce the winning name for the Egyptian cobra on Thursday. STORY HIGHLIGHTSThe snake was named Mia after vote sponsored by Bronx Zoo and newspaper, officials sayThe Egyptian cobra captured public imagination when it escaped last monthVisitors to Bronx Zoo can see Mia on Saturday, zoo says New York (CNN) -- An Egyptian cobra that turned into a media darling after its escape and subsequent capture at New York's Bronx Zoo was named Mia on Thursday after a public vote.

The name is a play on the days when the snake was missing in action, zoo officials said.

The Bronx Zoo and New York Daily News asked the public to vote on the best name for the mischievous cobra. After receiving more than 34,000 suggestions, officials whittled the list down to five nominations before Mia was chosen.

Mia received 15,972 votes, or 27 percent of the total vote, a zoo statement said.

The four runners-up were Subira, which means patient in Egypt, with 14,016 votes (24 percent); Amaunet, an ancient Egyptian goddess, meaning 'the female hidden one," with 11,672 votes (20 percent); Cleopatra, the last ruler of ancient Egypt who supposedly killed herself by means of an Egyptian cobra bite, with 10,730 votes (18 percent); and Agnes, Greek for pure or holy and also a reference to St. Agnes, with 6,777 votes (11 percent).

"Now that Mia has received her official name and has settled into her exhibit at the Bronx Zoo's Reptile House, the building will be re-opened to the public on Saturday, April 9 and visitors will be able to see her for the first time," the statement said.

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