Noah's Ark zoo near Bristol welcomes baby zebra Hope during the coronavirus outbreak

Noah's Ark Zoo Farm in Wraxall near Bristol has a stripy addition to its collection. Its five-year-old zebra Polly gave birth to a baby on 19 March, just as the zoo had to close because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The keepers have named the new arrival Hope.

The zoo says it wants "to signify to all our visitors and staff, that in these unprecedented times, there is still hope that things will return to normal and life will keep on going.

Sprout, snapped just after he was born in December, will provide company for Hope. Credit: Noah's Ark Zoo Farm

Did you know a group of zebras is called a dazzle? Hope - who's a little dazzler herself - won't be short of company.

The youngster will live in the zebra enclosure with the rest of the dazzle, including dad Zebedee. She will also have a playmate almost her own age - Sprout was born just in time for Christmas 2019.

If you look closely you will see that both Sprout and Hope have brown and white stripes, rather than black and white. The zoo says that's normal - they get darker as they get older.

The zebras at Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm are all Grant’s Zebra, a subspecies of Plain’s Zebras and are registered as 'Near Threatened' on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List. It means that the species could be at risk of extinction in the near future.