Marwell Zoo in Hampshire, England, welcomed the birth of a male African wild ass, which is one of the most endangered animals in the world. The animal appears to look like a zebra-legged donkey. The creature's birth is spurring hopes that the critically endangered species would continue surviving.
African Wild Ass: Donkey With Zebra Legs
These donkey species are native to Etritea, Somalia, and Ethiopia, though some populations can be spotted in Egypt. Sudan, Somalia, and Djibouti. In such territories, their scattered populations can be found over stony deserts and hills, grasslands with surface water, and semi-arid bushlands.
African wild asses have coats that are light gray and have just one black stripe on their spine. Other than this, horizontal stripes fill their legs. Because of this unique feature, African wild asses seem to look zebra-legged.
An upright and stiff mane can be observed on the nape of their necks, in which the hairs have a black tip. These creatures also have huge ears with margins that are black, while their tail ends with a brush of black. They also have slender hooves that have the approximate diameter of their legs.
African wild asses typically live in coffles, or groups, comprising five or fewer individuals.
The Red List of Threatened Species of the International Union for Conversation of Nature (IUCN) includes African wild asses, specifically categorizing them as critically endangered species. As such, specialists think that there are only less than 200 of these donkey species in the wild.
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Male African Wild Ass Born in UK Zoo
Hampshire's Marwell Zoo welcomed the birth of the unnamed male, or jack, last August 20. The foal is currently living inside an enclosure alongside its mother, Nadifa. It has been described by zookeepers as having floppy ears and gangly legs.
Darren Ives, a senior animal keeper at the UK Marwell Zoo, notes that the African wild ass has already been observed to do "zoomies" within the paddock, adding that it looks healthy and nice as well.
Interestingly, its neighbor Addas, which is an antelope species that is also classified as critically endangered, has been observed to have an interest in the foal and spends some time observing the newborn running around the enclosure.
Lars, who is the father of the foal, has been temporarily transferred out of the enclosure in order to foster bonding between Nadifa and the foal. In wild settings, the foal-mother relationship between African wild asses is crucial to the well-being and survival chances of the offspring. As such, because of this, keepers encourage the fostering of the same bonds between the two.
This newborn foal is the third offspring of Nadifa, while this is the fifth time for Lars to be a father.
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