Project Description
Spotted in Masai Mara
September 26, 2019
Tira, the spotted zebra foal, with her mother © William Rotiken
Kenyans are celebrating a small miracle. A polka-dotted zebra was born during the great wildebeest migration and instead of stripes, she has spots. William Rotiken, who is a member of our Wildlife Warriors network, shared with us photos of the little beauty who has been named Tira after Antony Tira, a Maasai guide who first spotted the foal.
Tira is no ordinary zebra, her birth has drawn attention to a species that has been largely ignored due to how common they are. But Kenya is also home to the Grevy’s Zebra – a species on the brink of extinction. We hope that interest in Tira will catalyze interest in saving all zebra species. To engage citizens in zebra conservation we will be taking 25 school children to northern Kenya to participate in the national census of Grevy’s Zebra on January 25 – 26, 2020.
