Busch Gardens Tampa Bay welcomes a new baby Grevy's zebra to its collection of exotic and endangered African animals. The new foal brings the number of Grevy's zebra at the park to 13.

The female was born on Tuesday, March 27, on the park's 65-acre Serengeti Plain. Soon after the foal's birth, the park's animal care specialists realized that its mother was not exhibiting maternal instincts. The foal is now in an area off guest's view, where she is hand-fed every two hours around the clock. Once she is old enough to graze for herself, she will be reintroduced to the herd.

Busch Gardens' 65-acre Serengeti Plain is a naturalistic habitat featuring a diverse population of free-roaming African animals including giraffe, zebra, eland antelope and several other species of hoof stock and birds.

The 335-acre adventure park is home to 31 zebra representing three different species. In addition to the Grevy's zebra, which is listed as a threatened species, the adventure park also features Grant's zebra and endangered Hartmann's mountain zebra.

Within an hour after it is born, a foal can run with the rest of the herd and can recognize its mother by smell and sight. Each zebra has a unique stripe pattern, like a person's fingerprint, and babies focus on their mother's rump for identification. Grevy's zebra are found throughout Kenya and Ethiopia.

Busch Gardens participates in the American Zoo and Aquarium Association's (AZA) Species Survival Plan (SSP) for Grevy's zebra. The SSP is a cooperative population management program designed to maintain the genetic diversity of threatened and endangered species.