Brookfield Zoo Welcomes New Baby: An Endangered Grevy's Zebra

BROOKFIELD, IL — The Chicago Zoological Society, which manages Brookfield Zoo, is happy to announce a new addition who has definitely earned his stripes. A Grevy’s zebra was born in the early morning hours on November 9 and is doing well as he bonds with Mypa, his nearly 7-year-old mom. He can be seen in one of the outdoor habitats on the north side of the zoo, weather permitting.

The not-yet-named foal, who weighs between 75 and 100 pounds, is a welcome addition to the population in zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The pairing of Mypa and the sire, Nazim, was based on a recommendation by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Grevy’s Zebra Species Survival Plan (SSP). An SSPmanages the breeding of a species in order to maintain a healthy and self-sustaining breeding population that is both genetically diverse and demographically stable. Currently, nearly 175 individuals live at 38 accredited North American zoos. Nazim is also the sire of another Grevy’s zebra who was born at Brookfield Zoo in July 2015.

Zebra foals are born with a wooly coat of light chocolate or russet stripes that are darker on the head, neck, and legs. A bushy mane, which a zebra begins to shed at about 3 weeks of age, runs from just behind the ears to the tail, as well as down the midline of the belly. The coat changes to the more familiar adult short hair and black stripes at about 5 months of age. A zebra’s stripes are like fingerprints: no two are the same.

Grevy’s zebras are listed as endangered on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature Resources. According to the Grevy’s Zebra Trust, the species has undergone one of the most substantial reductions of range of any African mammal. Once found more widely across the Horn of Africa, their range is now confined specifically to southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya. In the late 1970s, the global population of Grevy’s zebras was estimated to be about 15,000 individuals. In 2008, an updated survey estimated approximately 2,800 animals representing more than an 80 percent decline over the past four decades. The species’ demise is due to habitat loss, hunting, and competition for resources with other grazers, as well as cattle and livestock.

Submitted by the Chicago Zoological Society

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Photos via the Brookfield Zoo's Facebook page