SIX ZEBRA FIND A SAFE HOME AT UKUWELA

Today was a great day for six at-risk zebra, who were delivered to their new, safe home at our Ukuwela Reserve at 730am this morning.

The six new zebra, waiting for release from the transport truck.

We had been waiting for the opportunity to re-introduce six additional zebra as part of our restoration and re-wilding program for the reserve. Donors had already sponsored each individual zebra last year, and we were waiting for a call to tell us that zebra were available. It’s currently summer in South Africa and usually wildlife capture and relocation is done in cooler months, so we were planning and hoping for the additional zebra to arrive after April. However, our ecologist Axel Hunnicutt received an urgent call yesterday - a zebra emergency!

The reserve that previously was home for these zebra was being heavily targeted by bushmeat poachers. The owner made the difficult decision to sell his wildlife to other reserves who are better able to keep them safe.

We welcome Ferris, Sloan and Cameron, named after the characters in our donor, the Sparling’s favorite movie, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. They were joined by Cycle who was named by our partner, a South African travel company and charity, The Cycle of Life. And finally, Barry the baby zebra, sponsored by the Busteed family in Hong Kong.

Thank you to everyone who donated a zebra to help us re-wild our Ukuwela Conservancy. We hope you enjoy the release video of this morning’s zebra arrival!