Doha: The jerboa, better known in Qatar and the region as saboog, are desert rodents and nocturnal in nature. But since November last year, a family of jerboas have been let loose here in Qatar.
After winning over the hearts and minds of the locals, they have now begun to woo the visitors to the Asian Cup. The Local Organising Committee of the 15th Asian Cup here in Doha has adopted a family of jerboas as the official mascot and since then ‘Zkriti' and his family of four have been hopping around on their long legs, tufted tail with large expressive eyes.
The mascot family comprises of Zkriti and his wife Tranaa, their daughter Freha and two sons Saboog and Tmbki. The jerboas, which rest in their burrows during the day and venture out at night, play a vital role in desert life and have been the subject of many poems and songs both in Qatar and in the Gulf region.
Though these desert creatures are brown in colour, Zkriti's chosen family sports colours that reflect each of their characters and are named after different locations in the north, south, east and west of Qatar.
Named
Zkriti, the father mascot is named after the Zekreet area in the west of Qatar while the mother — Tranaa — is named after the Turayna area in the south of the country.
Their eldest daughter, Freha is named after the Freha area in the north of Qatar while the first son Saboog, who bears the common name for jerboas in the Arabian Gulf, is associated with speed. The youngest son in the family, Tmbki is named after the Timbic area in east of Qatar.
The Qatar Football Association President Shaikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Bin Ahmad Al Thani, who is also the QLOC chairman, decided to give away the mascots free of charge to children. Recognising the jerboas through their colours, kids are always on the lookout for the family members to get pictured with them. While Zkriti is green, wife Tranaa wears purple and daughter Freha wears pink. But the two sons Saboog in blue and Tmbki in yellow are the most popular.
