UPDATE (20.02.25):
Following January’s news of the passing of Ziggy the zebra, we wanted to update you all on Anna, our remaining female half-maned zebra.
Anna has a strong social relationship with the greater kudu that share her habitat and so although currently the only zebra here, she is not on her own. Half-maned zebras are a rare subspecies, not commonly seen in European zoos. In fact, there are fewer than 37 individuals in the whole of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria region.
The breeding programme coordinator [EEP] has identified a male to join Anna quite soon and a second female will hopefully join us in 2026. There are no half-maned zebra presently available in the UK, and imports from European zoos take a period of time to complete the necessary health checks and documentation relevant to the exporting country’s policies.
We are working diligently to bring in a male zebra as soon as practically possible. However, in the meantime, we have the best care available to all the animals in the zoo, from veterinary provisions to the expertise of the Animal Care Team, and Anna is being well cared for.
On Friday 10th January male zebra, Ziggy, sadly passed away following an incident in our mixed species African habitat.
Ziggy had lived happily with the other species, including the rhino, in this habitat since November 2017 when he arrived.
On Friday, two of the rhinos, Astrid and her son Tayo, were sparring with one another, which is a regular and natural behaviour for this species. On this occasion, unfortunately Astrid attempted to move Ziggy out of the way and in doing so unintentionally punctured his stomach and he died of these injuries a few minutes later.
In the light of these rare events, we review our care for the animals to minimise the risk of these incidents reoccurring. As a result, the Animal Care Team will continue to closely monitor the animals behaviour in the coming weeks.
These sorts of incidents are extremely rare and we are devastated by this loss, Ziggy was a much loved animal who will be dearly missed.
We would really like to thank our supporters for the well wishes at this difficult time and thank our fantastic Animal Care Team who dealt with this very difficult situation extremely professionally.
