The good health of mother and foal after an assisted delivery of a baby zebra has brought cheer to the Alipore Zoological Gardens in Kolkata.
Dyuti, the female zebra that came to the zoo about six years ago from Israel, had delivered stillborn foals on two earlier occasions.
“Two zebras born to Dyuti in 2014 and 2015 could not survive. On both the occasions the amniotic sac of the mother did not rupture and the babies died,” Ashish Kumar Samanta, director of Alipore Zoological Gardens told The Hindu .
Mr. Samanta said this was the first assisted delivery of a baby zebra at the oldest zoological garden in the country. A committee of zoo officials, veterinary experts and zoo keepers kept a watch on Dyuti from the time she conceived.
The foal was born on Thursday. On Tuesday, when it was brought into the enclosure for the first time, it kept to its mother mostly and stayed away from other zebras. Mohitosh Sarkar, a zookeeper, said that within moments after the delivery, medical intervention was provided, the sac was opened and the baby stood on its legs.
Mr. Sarkar said for the next few weeks the foal would be kept under supervision and would be on mother’s milk for 15 days. A diet of maize, barley and carrots would follow.
With the newborn, the number of zebras at Alipore Zoo has gone up to seven. Only a few weeks ago, another foal was born in the zoo to Rohini. Of the seven zebras in the zoo, six are females and one is male.
In 2010-2011, four zebras — two males and two females — were brought to the zoo from Israel. One of the males died subsequently.
