Al Ain Zoo in the UAE has just closed a naming competition for their newest member… an endangered baby Mohrr gazelle. Keep an ear out for the winning name in the near future.
Born in late October, 2011, the baby was orphaned after it's mother passed away just hours after giving birth. A team of vets and zookeepers have been hand raising the little male, and he has been thriving. They are taking the steps necessary to ensure the gazelle can be easily re-integrated into the herd one he's weaned and can feed himself.
The baby is bottle-fed 5 times per day. Though he's kept in a separate area for now so he can be closely monitored as he grows, the enclosure is in close proximity to his herd, allowing connection and contact with them.
Dr Arshad Toosy, Manager of Venerinary Operations at Al Ain Zoo said, “We are delighted to welcome the new baby Mhorr gazelle to our western sub-species of the Dama gazelle, once lived in the Sahara desert areas in Morocco. Their numbers have rapidly declined due to hunting, over grazing by domestic livestock and civil unrest, and today the Mhorr gazelle exists only in captivity, where breeding and re-introduction programs are its only hope for survival.”
Al Ain Zoo is a proud member of the World Association for Zoo and Aquaria (WAZA) and is actively involved in several internationally co-ordinatedEnvironment Agency – Abu Dhabi, The Species Survival Commission, San Diego Zoo, Edinburgh Zoo, World Conservation Union and Species Survival Commission, the Northern Rangelands Trust of Kenya and the Sahara Conservation Fund to conserve and re-introduce threatened arid land species such as Arabian oryx, Scimitar-horned oryx, giraffes and gazelle.
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