Staff dressed in black and white to care for orphaned baby zebras inside Tsavo East National Park, Kenya.

An orphaned baby zebra once again found happiness when cared for by staff at Tsavo East National Park, Kenya.

To keep the baby zebras from feeling empty, caring employees wore black and white striped shirts and became “surrogate mothers” to care for their cubs.

A baby zebra named Diria was extremely miserable when he witnessed his mother being attacked to death by lions. Luckily the baby zebra escaped as it joined a herd of goats nearby. Herders took the baby zebra to a Sheldrick wildlife care facility, where it was nursed back into play.

With the hope that the baby zebras would be closer to their caretakers as their mothers, the staff wore black and white striped outfits. All day long, from dawn to dusk, the manager is always by Diria’s side, like the mother horse did when she was alive, bringing comfort and peace of mind. They feed and drink enough milk.

Staff dressed in black and white outfits feed the zebras food and milk every day

A spokesperson for the Sheldrick wildlife care facility said zebras usually live in very united herds, but when zebras give birth, mother and child often separate from the group to have private time to take care of each other. The bond between mother horse and foal is especially strong.

This is necessary for the baby zebra to be able to recognize its mother and for the mother zebra to remember each of her baby’s unique stripes, calls, and scent.

When both mother and child can recognize each other, there can be no mistake, the couple will return to join the group.

The staff in the wildlife care facility will always be with the zebra 24/7 so that it can develop at its best.

Rob Brandford, CEO of Sheldrick Wildlife Care said: “Diria is extremely affectionate with its keepers, it especially likes to snuggle up to them and enjoy being petted and groomed. They I’m extremely proud to be able to help care for zebras after going through a traumatic life.”

The care facility will continue to accompany Diria until she is old enough, developing the necessary survival skills to be able to reintegrate in the natural environment.

HD (abridged translation)

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