LOS ANGELES (CNS) – The Los Angeles Zoo Friday announced the birth of a male Grevy’s zebra foal, born this spring and kept behind the scenes for a few weeks to bond with his mother.
The young zebra, born to Lilly, has been intermittently on public view as he gets used to his surroundings, and will eventually be regularly on exhibit beginning next week, weather permitting. Zoo officials said the zebra’s birth marks the first one of its kind since 2019. His name was not immediately provided.
“This is an exciting birth for the zoo and for the entire animal care team,” Dominick Dorsa II, director of animal care, said in a statement. “It’s been quite some time since we’ve had a Grevy’s zebra foal at the zoo, and now guests will be able to see the behaviors of a juvenile zebra that they may have not experienced before.”
Grevy’s zebra foals have a stripe pattern as unique as an individual human fingerprint, zoo officials said.
This species is native to the semi-arid and open scrub grasslands of southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya. It’s also one of the largest of the three zebra species.
Adult males stand 5 feet tall at the shoulders and can weigh nearly 1,000 pounds, while females are about 10% smaller. Grevy’s zebras live 12 to 13 years in the wild, but in zoos can live between 22 to 30 years.
While they celebrate the birth of the new zebra foal, zoo officials said they hope to also raise awareness of the species’ population decline. Grevy’s zebras are classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Populations have decreased by 54% over the last 40 years due to habitat loss, unregulated hunting, diseases and predation. There are fewer than 2,000 of these zebras in the wild, according to the LA Zoo.
“This birth not only helps support the Grevy’s zebra’s population in North America, but it will undoubtedly help educate guests about this important animal,” Dorothy Belanger, curator of mammals, said in a statement.
“Guests visiting the zoo will have the unique opportunity to observe this young animal and build a connection with the species. We’re thrilled for this new zebra and how it will help shape the minds of our guests and hopefully inspire them to be a part of the conservation of wildlife and nature,” Belanger added.
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