Rare Baby Zebra Born With Spots Instead Of Stripes Found In Kenya

Dec 03, 2019

Anthony Tira, a photographer visiting Kenya’s Maasai Mara Park, saw a zebra foal of a very different color. It had spots instead of the expected stripes.

Tira is a photographer and tour guide with Matira Bush Camp, and he spotted the unusual foal while visiting the game reserve near the Mara River. At first, he thought that somebody had colored the foal to mark it for “the purposes of migration.”

A second look, however, made him realize that wasn’t the case. The foal, which stayed next to its mother, actually had a melanin disorder that gave it a predominantly black coat with white spots. The well-known disorder albinism is characterized by a total or near-total lack of pigment and thus results in white skin or fur. Melanism is the opposite condition, and it is caused by an abnormally high amount of dark pigment called melanin. So-called “black panthers” are well-known examples of melanism seen in leopards and jaguars.

A zebra with melanism won’t have normal stripes; it will have spots and small stripes forming a pattern on its skin. Tira’s photographs of the foal show that it has a completely black back, thin white stripes on its legs, and spots on its neck, chest, and abdomen.

A wildlife specialist at Matira Bush Camp, Parmale Lemein, commented that there had never been a recorded case of a melanistic zebra born at Maasai Mara Park. He had heard of them appearing in other African parks. Unfortunately, none of them survived six months after birth.

Lemein also said that scientists who have studied zebras state that they are black with white stripes. The stripes form when the melanin is held back from certain areas. If that doesn’t happen, and the melanin spreads over all or most of the body, the zebra develops melanism.

The blogger Mutuma Untamed posted Tira’s photographs on his blog and added that the foal had been named after Tira. He also claimed to have heard of a similar case, but the zebra in question still had stripes rather than spots.

Not surprisingly, the Massai Mara National Reserve has reported a veritable stampede, for guides and tourists alike want to see the zebra with its rare and distinctive markings.

Have you heard of this before? Did you know a zebra could be born with polka dots instead of stripes? Please leave your comments below and tell your animal loving friends about this special little zebra.