Mona, the Spanish word for a female monkey, has been chosen as the name of the mascot for the Sao Paulo 2017 Youth Parapan American Games.

The name of the female red howler monkey was decided by popular vote in a poll conducted on the Brazilian Paralympic Committee’s (CPB) Facebook page.

The winning-name received 3,053 votes to finish ahead of the other two shortlisted names: Mina, a typical Sao Paulo slang for girls, and Sampa, a nickname for the city of Sao Paulo.

The female red howler monkey can be found in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, one of whose protected areas is located right next to the brand new Brazilian Paralympic Centre, where the competition will take place from 20-25 March 2017.

Around 1,000 athletes, ages 12-21 years old, from more than 20 countries are expected to take part in this event, with 12 sports being contested: athletics, boccia, football 5, football 7, goalball, judo, powerlifting, sitting volleyball, swimming, table tennis, wheelchair basketball and wheelchair tennis.

The last edition of the Youth Parapan Ams was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in October 2013, attracting more than 600 athletes from 16 countries, who competed across 10 sports. Brazil topped the medal table and 15 countries reached the podium at least once.

Barquisimeto, Venezuela, staged the inaugural edition in 2005, with athletes from 10 countries competing, whilst a total of 14 countries attended the event in Bogota, Colombia, in 2009.