Marwell Zoo welcomes birth of world’s most endangered zebra

Exclusive first footage of Marwell Zoo's latest addition - a rare zebra foal.

Marwell Zoo is celebrating its newest addition, a Grévy's zebra foal.

Footage recorded by ITV Meridian shows the newborn already standing and feeding.

Chief executive Laura Read says she arrived at work to a wonderful surprise.

"I went home last night and came back this morning and we had a new Grévy's zebra foal."

"They're a day old, we don't know if it's a girl or a boy yet, but doing really well, up and about."

"This is a very, very important birth because they are an endangered species and we're part of the European breeding programme."

"We also work with them in Northern Kenya as well to conserve the species in the field so it's really great for us."

The Grévy's zebra is the world’s most endangered zebra.

It's one of the rarest equids in the world and today can only be found in northern Kenya and isolated groups in Ethiopia.

Hampshire-based conservation charity Marwell Wildlife was instrumental in helping to create a national conservation strategy for Grevy’s zebra in Kenya and is one of the founding members of the Grevy’s Zebra Technical Committee, which guides and implements conservation action.

Marwell’s work includes extensive surveys and monitoring of Grevy’s zebras to understand changes in their populations and distribution.

Marwell manages the International Studbook and the European Ex situ Programme (EEP) for Grevy’s zebra and has a dedicated Kenyan team who work to conserve this rare species.

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