By Jackie Wallace, Houston Zoo
There’s a new zebra in town at the Houston Zoo! The Grant’s zebra, Rosalita, comes to Houston from Brownsville, TX. Rosalita is nearly one year old and joins the Houston Zoo’s 8-year-old female, Kapuki. Guests who formerly spotted stripes at the Zoo in the giraffe barn can now visit zebras in their new location near the entrance of the African Forest, next to the pygmy hippo habitat.
There are three species of zebras: Grevy’s, mountain, and plains. Grant’s zebras are the smallest subspecies of plains zebras and have broad, well-defined stripes. They are herbivores, and their diet consists of grasses and hay. Grant’s zebras live in the savannahs of east and south Africa. In the wild, they are listed as near threatened, with populations continue to decrease. The Houston Zoo and its guests are helping to turn this trend around.
The Houston Zoo provides support and training for local communities in Kenya to protect wild zebras. In 2020, African scouts, supported by the Zoo, patrolled more than 7,000 miles of land, removing 107 illegal wire traps set for wildlife and investigating poaching activity to protect wild zebra herds. The African scout team continues to do daily patrols to ensure zebras have safe places to thrive in the wild.
When guests visit the Houston Zoo to see zebras Kapuki and Rosalita, they also help save wild zebras in Africa. A portion of every Zoo admission ticket and membership directly supports wildlife-saving efforts around the world.
