Marwell Zoo welcomes new baby zebra to Wild Explorers paddock

Marwell Zoo, near Colden Common, recently welcomed the birth of an endangered Grevy’s zebra foal.

The three-day-old is already as already exploring the Wild Explorers paddock.

Keepers say second-time mum Khumba is doing an exceptional job caring for her new arrival, who represents a vital addition to the fragile Grevy’s zebra population.

The new foal is a younger sibling to female Windsor, who was born in July 2022 following the celebrations for the late Queen’s Jubilee.

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The new baby is settling in (Image: Corin Messer) Phil Robbins, Hoofstock Team Leader, 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."  

Marwell has been instrumental in helping to shape Kenya’s national conservation strategy for Grevy’s zebra and manages both the International Studbook and the European Ex situ Programme (EEP) for the species.

Tanya Langenhorst, Senior Conservation Biologist, said: “As EEP coordinator, I am very excited about the birth of this Grevy’s foal Monday morning. 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."  

In the wild, Grevy’s zebra are found primarily in Northern Kenya with isolated groups in Ethiopia. It is thought fewer than 3,000 of these magnificent animals remain. 

Numbers declined because of habitat loss, extended periods of drought and poaching but it is thought the population is now stabilising.

Tanya said: “The Grevy’s zebra in the wild, in Kenya, are doing reasonably well with many reports of births. 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.”

Foals usually stand within an hour of being born and take their first wobbly steps shortly afterwards.  They have the largest ears of any zebra species which can rotate independently, allowing them to detect predators from different directions.

Marwell Zoo is proud to be the only zoo in the UK to home all three zebra species: Grevy’s, plains and Hartmann’s zebra.