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Zebra Ember stripes into action

1 July 2009

The baby boom at Belfast Zoo continues with the birth of a baby zebra. The female foal, called Ember, was born in the early hours of Thursday 25 June. She is one week old.

Mum Ellen will nurse baby Ember for the first seven months after a pregnancy that lasted one year. Ember was three feet tall when born and walked within the first hour.

Alyn Cairns, curator of Belfast Zoo, is delighted to have a baby zebra in the group.

“The zebras mix with our giraffes and ostriches, as they would do in the African grasslands. The dynamics of the groups have changed and the giraffes are particularly curious and inquisitive of the new arrival," he said.

Ember is currently on show in the zoo.

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