Conservationists are celebrating the birth of an endangered Grevy’s zebra foal in the UK and are “cautiously optimistic” for the future of the breed in the wild.
The three-day-old foal was born at Marwell Zoo and keepers say its mother Khumba is “doing an exceptional job caring for her new arrival”.
Marwell has a significant role in shaping Kenya’s national conservation strategy for this rare breed. It manages both the international studbook and the European Ex-situ Programme (EEP) for Grevy’s zebras, which is a breeding and conservation plan for wild animals living in European zoos.
“As EEP coordinator, I am very excited about the birth of this Grevy’s foal on Monday morning,” said Tanya Langenhorst, senior conservation biologist at Marwell.
“It has been a long wait since this species is pregnant for a minimum of 13 months. The EEP has been through several tough years with many older animals dying and only few foals being born.
“The European population currently only has 208 individuals. I am trying to grow it back to 250 so every foal counts and this one born at Marwell is only the fifth to be born this year.”
Marwell has not yet shared if the new arrival is a filly or a colt.
Grevy’s zebra are found primarily in northern Kenya with isolated groups in Ethiopia. It is thought fewer than 3,000 remain.
Numbers declined because of habitat loss, drought and poaching, but it is thought the population is now stabilising.
“The Grevy’s zebra in the wild, in Kenya, are doing reasonably well with many reports of births,” she said.
“We are cautiously optimistic that the wild population has survived the terrible drought that lasted over two years, when Marwell and its partners in Kenya worked hard to keep them alive with supplementary hay feeding.”
Phil Robbins, hoofstock team leader at Marwell, added: “The foal was born on Monday morning and has been running around in the paddock, staying close to Khumba who is a very good mother. She is being extremely protective and attentive towards the foal.”
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