Iowa zoo welcomes ‘quirky’ zebra foal, addax calf

DES MOINES, Iowa — An Iowa zoo is proud to welcome two new babies to the herd.

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The Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines announced the birth of a Hartmann’s mountain zebra on March 11, and a male addax calf was born on April 5, KCCI-TV reported.

The male foal, named Dakota, was 68 pounds at birth and was born to Hannah and Duke, zoo officials wrote in a Facebook post. Dakota has been bonding with its mother “behind the scenes,” the social media post noted.

It is the first Hartmann’s mountain zebra foal born at Blank Park Zoo since the species returned to the facility in 2019, KCCI reported.

“Dakota is quirky and independent, often found exploring without mom,” Kayla Freeman, the zoo’s supervisor of large mammals, told the television station.

The male addax calf was named Perkins, in honor of the elementary school students who visited the zoo and witnessed the birth of the antelope, WHO-TV reported.

“Addax are functionally extinct in the wild and zoos hope to one day reintroduce the addax back to their natural habitat and every addax birth helps us get one step closer to that goal,” Anne Shimerdla, president and CEO of Blank Park Zoo, said in a statement.

The calf weighed 11 pounds at birth and has gained nine pounds in a month, the Des Moines Register reported.

Both Dakota and Perkins can be seen by zoo patrons, according to the newspaper.

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