Seeing double!

The first baby arrived on Monday, October 4 – the first to be delivered in the zoo for more than five years – and within a few days she was giving her fellow stripey friends a run for their money by sprinting around the paddock.

Itching to get going, the leggy youngster, the 26th zebra foal born at the zoo, was up and about straight away and can be seen gamboling around the lush green space which is home to the nine Grevy’s Zebra at Whipsnade.

Africa section leader Mark Holden said: “This is fantastic news for the zoo, Sabina kept us waiting for a bit longer than we thought, but she got there in the end. She’s really looking after the foal very well and is a seasoned mother. It’s also good news for the species as a whole, as Grevy’s zebra are much endangered in the wild.”

And a surprise second foal was born slightly early on Friday, October 8, to a different mum, Sarah.

Neither baby bundle has been named as yet.

Grevy’s zebra are bred at Whipsnade as part of a European Endangered Species Programme.

They grow to a height of 160cm and are the largest of the equids family, the group which includes horses, zebras and asses.

Endangered in the wild, Grevy’s zebra are now only found in north eastern Ethiopia and Kenya. The last zebra foals born at Whipsnade were Trinny and Susannah in 2005.