Unususal Sighting: A Chocolate-colored zebra foal
Zebra stripes are very variable - in fact every animal has an individual coat pattern that can literally be used as a fingerprint to identify individuals from year to year. Sometimes however this variation goes beyond individual or regional variation and throws out an anomaly. We’ve been thrilled to have our third so-called ‘anomaly’ at Vumbura Plains.
Chocholat Zebra Foal with Mom
On the 5th of November a guide on game drive just west of Nare Pan a guide with Wilderness Safaris and working out of the Vumbuara Safari Camp spotted a very unusual zebra foal. Vumbura Plains (pronounced Vumbera) Camp is a luxury camp situated to the north of Mombo, in a private concession bordering the Moremi Game Reserve in the extreme north of the Okavango Delta.
Obviously the guide and guests were thrilled to find this very young chocolate-coloured foal. It remained close to its mother in a herd of about seven or eight animals as any other normal zebra foal would do and was totally accepted by the herd who didn’t seem to notice the difference in coloration and its rat-like tail. The foal is estimated to be about three weeks old.
This color variation is known as melanism, but the amazing thing is that this is the third such foal seen in the Kwedi Concession since late 2005. All have been born to the same mare who evidently carries a recessive gene, but to date none of the foals have survived to adulthood. This is most likely due to the fact that they stand out within the herd and are thus easily selected by predators. It will be really interesting to see how long this foal survives and also to keep track of the mare as she ages.
A closer crop of Zebra foal
Related Links:
Read more about the previous sightings of melanistic foals at Vumbura and elsewhere here.
Wow, what a sighting, I have never seen something like this before. Nature is truly amazing. Thanks for sharing this and the beautiful photos, so that your readers can also experience this wonder of nature.
Kind Regards
Cyndi