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Sat, 13/01/2007 - 3:06pm
 
Does anyone know if the zebra the lions killed on the 12 or 13th was related to the youngster they killed two nights before? I am wondering if there is a larger herd that we can't see, or was that zebra family the only ones around? ALSO . . . if the lions killed the baby zebra and then the mother of the other baby, will the first mother adopt the orphan? Just wondering, and thanks ahead for any info you have . . . .
Wed, 17/01/2007 - 10:30pm
#2
I can't answer the question about whether the zebras came from the same breeding herd or whether they are related, however it is highly unlikely that a mother zebra will adopt another mother's foal. Zebra life is rather brutal and it is a mares responsibility to raise and protect her own foal, she cannot rely on the rest of the herd to do so. A stallion may protect the herd as a whole, mainly from other stallions and on the odd occassion from a predator, but he may even kill an orphaned youngster if he feels that its presence is going to compromise the herd. Its quite likely that the orphaned foal will try to stick with the herd for a while, but may get chased by the stallion and possibly the other mares and sadly, in the end, it will be left on its own and probably won't survive until maturity. Landi  |
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Thank you, Landi. I also posted this in the wildlife forum for Nkorrho, and got the same answer. I just wondered, because I know that baby birds CAN be fostered in many cases. Didn't know about mammals, though. It must be very hard to be a zebra.