Grevy’s Zebras were some of the first species at White Oak Conservation back in the 1980′s, and since then, 96 foals have been born there.
This past summer, White Oak welcomed five zebra foals into the world, four males and one female.
Since the 1970s, there has been a 90% drop in the population.
“They are classified as endangered, in the 1970′s there were almost 30,000 but their numbers have really declined and there are only about 2,000 left in the wild …mostly in Kenya and some in Ethiopia,” said Brandon Speeg the Director of Conservation at White Oak.
Spent my morning at @whiteoakconserv talking about the four Grevy's zebras (an endangered species) that were recently born this summer.
— Danielle Uliano (@DanielleUliano) August 28, 2020
Now here’s the question - are zebras black with white stripes OR white with black stripes?
Watch @wjxt4 tonight at 5:30 for the answer! pic.twitter.com/2G2Zhi7jJN
The foals can be pretty large. According to Speeg, they can weigh around 70-pounds when they are born.
Even though zebras look almost identical they have unique markings on their hip to identify them
“They’re like human finger prints, so if you look at their hips specifically every zebra has a unique stripe pattern, and scientists think that’s possible how foals identify with their mother and vise versa,” said Speeg.
We also asked the most common question when it comes to zebras: What color are their stripes?
“Yes that is the answer that everybody wants to know. So, it’s white and black hair with their stripes but their hide underneath is black, so technically they’re black with white stripes,” said Speeg.
If you want to head over the White Oak Conservation, you’ll have to wait a bit longer. The conservation is closed due to the pandemic and staff will notify the public when it’s able to reopen.