There's a new baby at the Denver Zoo.  ~Declan

Denver Zoo marks arrival of Grevy’s zebra foal

By Horsetalk.co.nz on Jun 16, 2013 

Denver Zoo is celebrating the arrival of an endangered, female Grevy’s zebra foal.

The as-yet unnamed foal was born on Thursday night.

The new foal and her mum, Topaz.

On Friday, she was already comfortably exploring her new home, with her mother, Topaz, never too far away.

The pair are already mixing with the entire herd in the zoo’s yard now.

The foal is the third for Topaz and she is still proving to be an excellent mother, carefully shepherding the young foal around their yard.

Topaz and the foal’s father, Punda, were paired under recommendation of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan, which ensures healthy populations and genetic diversity among zoo animals.

Fortunately, they proved to be an excellent match.

There are three different species of zebra – the plains or common zebra, mountain zebra and Grevy’s zebra.

Grevy’s zebra were named for Jules Grevy, a former president of France, to whom the first known specimen of the animal was sent in 1882.

The largest of all wild equine species, they can be distinguished from other zebras by their longer legs, more narrow stripes, white, stripeless underbellies and large rounded ears.

Grevy’s zebra are considered endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with a wild population estimated at fewer than 2000 individuals.

Their largest threats come from loss of habitat, competition with livestock and poaching. They have disappeared from most of their former habitats and are now found only in dry deserts and open grasslands in northern Kenya and south eastern Ethiopia.