Striped to perfection: Lincoln Park Zoo names zebra foal Zuri, meaning “beautiful” in Swahili

Lincoln Park Zoo has named its Grevy’s zebra foal Zuri, a female calf born on June 22 to mom Adia in the zoo’s South Loop habitat. According to a press release by the zoo, the name means “beautiful” in Swahili, one of the official languages of Kenya, part of the species’ native range.

The young zebra has already become a familiar sight for visitors as she learns to move around her habitat and reaches new milestones at the zoo, officials said.

“Zuri is quite independent and precocious, often venturing from her mother to explore her surroundings,” said Dan Boehm, Lincoln Park Zoo curator, according to the announcement. “She is also strengthening her long legs with excited bouts of running around the habitat and enjoys playing with her older sister Yabelo.”

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How Zuri is growing

Zuri was born with reddish-brown stripes that zoo experts say will turn black as she gets older. According to the press release, the foal weighed about 100 pounds when born and is expected to reach about 850 pounds when fully grown.

The zoo reported that Zuri could run within an hour after birth, though she will continue to depend on her mother for about seven months. Grevy’s zebras are the largest of the three zebra species and have about 80 stripes across their bodies, the announcement confirmed.

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According to Lincoln Park Zoo, these animals are also endangered, with habitat loss and hunting reducing the wild population to about 2,000 animals in Ethiopia and Kenya. Their large eyes give them a broad view of open scrub and grasslands, where they spend about 60% of the day grazing.

People who want to support Adia and Zuri can adopt a zebra at lpzoo.org/adopt.