Grévy’s zebra born at West Midlands Safari Park
Grévy’s zebra Akuna well and truly earned her stripes with the birth of her new foal.
Born at West Midland Safari Park, it barely took an hour for the baby zebra to get up on its feet, exploring its new environment and enjoying dust baths.
The foal’s gender is yet to be identified and it has not yet been named, but keepers will be spending the next few weeks keeping a close eye on both mother and baby.
The birth, which happened yesterday morning, is great news for the park’s European Endangered Species Programme, a breeding initiative of endangered species across the continent.
Vicky Barsham, African Ungulates Keeper, said: “We are absolutely delighted to welcome our first ever baby Grévy’s zebra to the park. Akuna is already proving to be a very attentive and caring mother. The foal is doing really well – it’s very active, enjoying dust baths and running around the safari.
“West Midland Safari Park is very pleased to be taking part in such an important conservation breeding programme.
“In the wild, the recent ‘Great Grévy Rally’ showed that although there is an increased number of Grévy’s zebra in Kenya, there still remains only 2,800 individuals.”
The foal joins the herd of three Grévy’s zebra at the park – mother Akuna, female Montana and first-time father Quigley.
