“Last night a Maasai guide discovered a one of a kind genetically mutated baby zebra in the Maasai Mara and named it after his surname - Tira.
This morning we were one of the first ones to visit Tira!
A few years ago there was a similar case, however that zebra still maintained the stripes and brush-like tail.
Tira, however, has patterns that appear as polka dots!
I hope the experts will look into this case and share some interesting discoveries soon!”
#wildestafrica

unconnected stripes.

but I guess this answers the question whether they are black with white stripes or white with black stripes.

Don't let SCI see that

A beauty. Doesn’t do much for the white on black or black on white argument though. :-)

Punky little fellow isn't he. l wonder how long he'll last, given that such abnormalities can draw unwanted attention from within the herd let alone the SCI

Any chance that time will cause changes to his "baby clothes"?

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:
Don't let SCI see that

Ha ha ha.... you win for the day!

Now, that's amazing!

Is there a Quagga gene floating around in there?

It's a Zorse. A zebra / horse crossbreed. I saw one once in Botswana but not as striking at this one. The one I saw was a very dark zebra foal.

Could be a zorse but what would a horse be doing in the maasai mara? Apparently it has a zebra dam. I think it's a mutant. Kinda like some years ago on AR there was a picture of a young cape buffalo bull with a blazed white face a little like that on a blesbok.

I wonder if he has a name yet

That is bizarre! But beautiful, nonetheless.

Well the gene pool has got to be somewhere and I can't understand why no DNA has been taken, or has it?? that and only that will tell the story...

Im guessing a pretty well bred stud horse from someplace away from the Tetsi fly is the culprit..Zebra do migrate..I say well bred because the colt shows good breeding traits,not what a bush African would be using. I also realize the mare is the dominate animal in horses as a rule. Just some thoughts from an old cowboy,who still team ropes, and has good horses and has had all his life. Id bet Im not far off, but wouldn't want to bet more than a $20.00 bill. Id give my ass and half of Alabama to own him,break and train him for a heel horse, wouldn't that be something. if he could be broke and trained..Half horse just might work..

It appears to have a lot of bare skin on the nose but the white markings are showing in that area on the sides.

If it is a pure bred Zebra I would guess two Zebra’s with the same rare recessive gene or set of genes hooked up. Cool looking critter. My daughter would want to train it to run barrels!

https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/n...02-tj2xyw/index.html


The zebra has now crossed over into Tanzania.

It has already been shot....with a dart anyway.
I saw a photo on Facebook with a guy holding it, saying they were taking a blood sample for testing.

Capture it. Breed it. Sell black colored zebras to be hunted in South Africa!

https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/n...4-p546fuz/index.html



Rare "golden" zebra sighted in Maasai Mara. Link has photo and article.

quote:

Originally posted by ColoradoMatt:
If it is a pure bred Zebra I would guess two Zebra’s with the same rare recessive gene or set of genes hooked up. Cool looking critter. My daughter would want to train it to run barrels!

Suspect it was a guinea fowl

Regards, Tim

I showed this article to a friend who has a Ph.D. in wildlife biology and works with a lot of African animals, including zebras. She thinks it is melanistic. The melanism affected not only what would be black stripes but extended into the white areas, leaving just the spots. Other zebras like this have occurred in the past.