New arrival at Longleat

17 June 2010, 12:47 | Updated: 13 September 2017, 18:30

Longleat safari park are celebrating the arrival of a new baby Zebra.

Kichaa, which means 'crazy' in Swahili, was born less than a week ago and is the first female baby Zebra to be born at Longleat for nine years.

Longleat's Deputy Head Warden, Ian Turner, explained: "We're absolutely delighted with this little lady. Kichaa is a direct descendent of the existing zebra herd which came into Longleat in 1968 and unbelievably, it was mum, Jinga, who was the last female zebra to be born at Longleat. There are obviously some strong female genes going on with this family.

"We had some initial concerns about how the other animals might react to a new baby in their enclosure but the Giraffe along with the Camels, Llama and rest of the Zebra family, seem to have really embraced Kichaa as another member of their extended Longleat family!

"She has been seen galloping around and generally bugging mum and dad with her playful behaviour as well as chasing the odd rabbit which she spots in the reserve."

The Grants Zebra can be found in the wild living off the grasslands and drier areas from Kenya to the Cape of Africa. For a long time it was thought that when zebra were together in a herd, the stripes would confuse their predators as they couldn't differentiate one zebra from another.