Baby zebra at Tucson's Reid Park Zoo dies after suffering spinal injury

Just over two weeks after Reid Park Zoo welcomed a baby zebra, the foal died of what appears to be a spinal injury, zoo officials announced.

On Monday morning, during animal health checks, the foal was found lying next to his mother, the zoo said in a press release.

"At this point initial radiographs show a fracture in his cervical spine; however, we are uncertain of the nature of the injury or how he sustained it," director of zoological operations Sue Tygielski said in the release. "Zebras as a species can become easily startled and, sadly, young zebras have a high mortality rate."

A full necropsy will be performed to "learn as much as we can and whether the foal had any underlying conditions," Tygielski said.

Anna, a Grevy's zebra, gave birth to the male foal on July 4. The baby was standing and nursing within an hour of his arrival, the zoo said when announcing the foal's birth.

The zoo said Anna was attentive to the foal, who hadn't been named yet, day and night. Staff said both Anna and the foal were "exhibiting normal behaviors including the foal running and jumping as he explored his surroundings" on Sunday.

"There was no unusual behavior seen in either staff observations or camera recordings," the zoo said.

The foal was born to Anna, 7, and her mate Ben, 18. The two were first-time parents and came to the zoo last year as part of a breeding recommendation in the Association of Zoos and Aquarium's Species Survival Plan.

Zoo keepers are watching Anna closely following her loss.

"In a very short time, he won everyone’s heart with his spirited energy," Tygielski said. "The animal care team is taking the unexpected loss very hard. The last two months of Anna’s pregnancy, the team monitored her around the clock and post-pregnancy worked to provide a calm, quiet environment for mom and foal."

Grevy’s zebras are the largest zebra species but are an endangered species whose population in the wild has dropped over the last few decades. The zoo says there are fewer than 2,000 Grevy’s zebras in Africa today.

Also this year at the zoo, two tigers and a lion were humanely euthanized. One tiger, Sita, and the lion, Shombay, had kidney disease. The other tiger, Baheem, was euthanized because of old age and health issues.

The zoo also welcomed a baby elephant and five meerkat pups in 2020.