| "Stripes"
continued from main newsletter
Zebras provide
us with the age-old question, are they black with white stripes
or white with black stripes? My favorite answer to this question
is – “Yes”. Our veterinarian, Dr.
Robin Radcliffe,
tells me that when he has to shave some of the hair off a zebra
for a procedure that the skin is black. Therefore, we can appropriately
answer this question by saying that zebras are black with white
stripes.
We have two types
of zebra at Fossil Rim. The one you will see on the drive-through
route is the Grant’s or Common Zebra, Equus burchelli
The
Grant’s
zebra
The Grants
Zebra at Fossil Rim live in the same pasture as the giraffes, just below
the hill from our Overlook Café. We have a heard of about
18 animals. The former stallion for this herd now resides in the front
pasture since we obtained
a new stallion to achieve a better diversity of genetics. Grant’s
zebras come from Africa, live for about 30 years in captivity (28 in the
wild) and
the males weigh around 550 pounds. Females average 480 pounds and will
carry their
young for 12 months. She has the capability of delaying the birth up to
18 hours if it is necessary to escape danger. When babies are born, mothers
keep them
away from other herd members to give the young time to learn the mothers
stripe pattern since each is unique. They weigh about 65 pounds at birth
and are born
with a longer, softer coat with brown stripes, supposedly to help them
hide
in the dead grasses usually present during the birthing season.
Grevy’s
Zebra
These zebras are endangered and come from Somalia, Ethiopia and
Northern Kenya.They have much narrower stripes than the Grant’s
zebra with white bellies and rounded ears. The weight on an adult
male can reach
around 1000 pounds. Mares
carry their young for 13 months and the mother/baby bond is the only
strong bond found in this species.
The only way
to currently see these zebras at Fossil Rim is on the Adventure
tour. They used to reside in
a pasture behind the admissions center but
had to be moved due to this land being too moist and causing hoof problems.
The
rockiest
part of our property that gives them better hoof health is unfortunately
not on the public drive-through.
We currently
have 4 adult females, 2 adult males and one15 month old foal. | 
