2016 Brazil Olympics Mascots
he unnamed mascots of the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games are pictured with the Copacabana beach in the background during their first appearance in Rio de Janeiro, November 23, 2014, in this handout courtesy of the Brazil Olympic Committee (COB) These mascots of Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games are inspired by the Brazilian fauna and flora, and their names will be decided through a public vote, according to the COB. Reuters

The official mascots to be featured at the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2016 Rio Paralympics were presented publicly for the first time on Monday in Rio De Janeiro. While their mascots’ appearances are already known, the 2016 Rio Organizing Committee have yet to give names to the pair choosing to have a public poll to decide the monikers of the yellow cat-like creature and the green leafy-headed figure.

"Their purpose is to delight and engage the audience, particularly the children," Carlos Nuzman, head of the Rio organizing committee, said of the mascots via their official website . "In addition, the mascots will always be remembered by the people.”

"Our mascots represent the diversity of our people, our way of life and our natural environment," Beth Lula, the organizing committee's brand director, added.

According to the official Brazil Olympics website, the Olympic mascot represents all the different animals in Brazil namely cats, monkeys and birds. Meanwhile the Paralympic mascot is a fusion of plants found in the forests of Brazil.

The predominantly yellow and green mascots has no name yet and the public can cast their votes for the short-listed names for both. Oba, Tib Tuque and Vinicius are the choices for the “animal” mascot while Eba, Esquindim and Tom are the selections for “plant” mascot. Sports fans have until Dec. 14, 2014 to cast their votes either via their website or social media Twitter. Fans can also visit the mascots’ official Facebook and Twitter pages.

As expected, fans had different but mostly positive reactions to the news:

@vaniotter Adventure Time was the first thing that came to my head when I saw the 2016 Olympics mascot.

— Authentic Tooniness (@PolarWildcat) November 25, 2014

so the #Rio olympics mascot that doesn't look like a tree looks like #Smarf from Too Many Cooks http://t.co/fFdMd5TsC9 — Patrick (@patricknd90) November 25, 2014