Good News! The St. Louis Zoo welcomed its first newborn Somali wild ass. The Somali wild ass is an extremely rare wild horse St Louis Zoo curators are struggling to save in the desert areas northeastern Africa.
The foal (baby ass) was born earlier this month to mother Fataki and sire Abai and boasts a gray body, white belly and horizontal black stripes on her legs. The new Baby Somali will grow to be four feet tall at the shoulder and weighs about 600 pounds. They also must compete with domestic livestock for access to shrinking grazing grounds in Africa.
The St Louis Zoo is home to seven Somali wild ass; only 27 live in North American zoos. Another 1,000 live in the wild, but they are threatened by the political unrest in the region and hunters, who use their meat for food and native medicines.
