Florida zoo welcomes first baby zebra

MELBOURNE, Fla. — Zoo officials on Florida’s east coast welcomed the facility’s first baby zebra on Wednesday.

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The Brevard Zoo announced in a news release that Lauren, an 8-year-old Grévy’s zebra, gave birth to a male on Wednesday. The baby zebra weighed about 88 pounds and was healthy, zoo officials said.

“For a hand-reared, first-time mom, Lauren is doing a great job raising her foal,” Lauren Hinson, the zoo’s director of animal programs, said in a statement. “The baby is active, and we’ve seen him on camera running and bucking around in the stall.”

Lauren and the foal will remain isolated as zoo officials want them to bond. Typically, Grévy’s zebras in their natural range separate themselves from their herd after giving birth.

“We are mimicking this as closely as possible by allowing Lauren to have isolated bonding time,” the zoo said in its release.

The foal’s sire, a 9-year-old male named Bakari, arrived at the Brevard Zoo in 2020 as a Species Survival Plan breeding recommendation, the zoo said.

Another zebra, Iggy, is also pregnant and expected to deliver her foal soon, according to the news release.

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