The Newest, Cutest Baby Animals from the World's Zoos & Aquariums

Zoo Basel Welcomes a Critically Endangered Somali Wild Ass

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A Somali Wild Ass has been born at Zoo Basel in Switzerland! The foal, named Lakisha, was born quickly and easily on March 27. Zoo Basel is a world leader in the conservation of this Critically Endangered species: Lakisha is the forty-first Somali Wild Ass to be born and raised at this zoo since 1972.

Mom Djara gave birth to her foal in the middle of the day. Coming head and front legs first, Lakisha plopped into the straw and was on her feet just half an hour later! It took another half an hour for the filly to nurse from her mother for the first time. No one was present at the birth and Djara could bond with Lakisha in peace.

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Lakisha’s father, Gigolo, has been living at Stuttgart Zoo in Germany since last November. The breeding of Somali Wild Asses in captivity is coordinated by a European Endangered Species Program, helping to ensure that pairings avoid inbreeding and produce healthy offspring. 

The Somali Wild Ass and Nubian Wild Ass are subspecies of the African Wild Ass. According the International Union for Conservation of Nature, there are fewer than 1,000 African Wild Asses remaining in the wild. Their major threats are hunting for food and medicinal purposes, and competition with livestock for forage and sources of water.  The Somali subspecies occurs in small populations in Somalia, Eritrea, and Ethiopia.

See more photos after the fold.

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7 responses to “Zoo Basel Welcomes a Critically Endangered Somali Wild Ass”

  1. bdobrin521@aol.com Avatar
    bdobrin521@aol.com

    did a zebra have anything to do with the ass regeneration?

    Reply
  2. mo Avatar
    mo

    She’s so frisky! Looks like mom is taking great care of her.

    Reply
  3. Aleasha Avatar
    Aleasha

    The Somali Wild Ass is a subspecies of the African Wild Ass. They are closely related to the Onager and Kiang. I wish this precious baby was born in an American zoo. Europe kills healthy zoo animals and even babies like it’s some sort of sick contest! I fear for her safety being in a European zoo. Let’s just hope they don’t find some reason to kill her!

    Reply
  4. sue Avatar
    sue

    Havn’t heard anything bad about basle zoo – but Copenhagen zoo is the culprit for killing perfectly healthy animals they have bred.

    Reply
  5. Aleasha Avatar
    Aleasha

    The Dahlholzli Zoo in Switzerland just euthanized a healthy Brown Bear cub because it’s father was bullying if. The Copenhagen Zoo killed a healthy young male Giraffe and four Lions! Honestly, I’m worried for any animal in a European zoo. I use to work as a veterinary technician for a very large and well respected zoo here in the US. I will tell you that every single animal we had was a valuable life. It didn’t matter if they could or couldn’t breed, what their age or if they brought in visitors or not. There were times when animals had to be castrated because their genes weren’t good to pass on (for example, a small exotic cat with PCKD that we didn’t want to pass on to any existing offspring). This particular cat stayed with us on exhibit for her entire life. We would never dream of killing her because her genes weren’t valuable. When we needed to bring in new blood, we traded animals with another zoo. We never killed healthy animals to bring in new bloodlines. Also, we would never dream of putting a small bear cub in with it’s father. But, if we ever saw aggression between animals, we would immediately remove the source of aggression from the one being picked on as quickly as we could. Several times baby animals were hand raised. Never would we kill a baby because a parent was showing aggression to it. The only time we ever euthanized an animal was if it was very sick to save it from suffering (mostly very old animals with elderly diseases, but a couple of times it was younger animals with genetic/congenital conditions that caused great suffering). I can’t say we never had an accident and that animals didn’t die as a result of these accidents, but good zoos remedy these situations. A good zoo never kills a healthy animal for any reason.

    Reply
  6. AnimalLover Avatar
    AnimalLover

    Excuse me but that’s a very foolish remark. The Somali Wild Ass is an extremely endangered species, and each one is treasured. The animal you refer to that was killed is a giraffe that was euthanized, and do you know what? Giraffes are all over the place, and they’re not only easy to breed, they’re very large and they’re expensive to keep.
    When you have more giraffes than you have room for, and there’s nothing special about the bloodline that needs to be preserved, yes, you cull the herd. It’s a shock to the rest of us, because zoos are known for raising and keeping animals, but sometimes they cannot keep them all.
    To say, “Let’s just hope they don’t find some reason to kill her!” and to carry on about “some sort of sick contest!” insults countless devoted animal keepers. I hope you gain the ability to see things in perspective.

    Reply
  7. B Avatar
    B

    What about culling mice, rats, chickens, or rabbits for feeding (of the carnivores)? Or cows and horses for that matter? The giraffe at the Copenhagen zoo was a) dissected as part of a planned educational program and b) fed to the lion pride. He was “killed” humanely, so I don’t see the difference.

    Reply

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