One of the rarest mammals has been born at Marwell Zoo

The foal was born on Sunday 20 August and is particularly important because there are fewer than 200 left in the wild - making it a critically endangered species.

Native to Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia, African wild asses are preyed on by African lions and Ethiopian wolves.

They have also historically been hunted by humans for food.

This has resulted in very low numbers of these animals surviving in the wild and the numbers continue to decline.

READ MORE: Marwell Zoo: Critically endangered mountain bongo born

The new arrival at Marwell is reported to be doing well and can be seen with mother Nadifa in the paddock opposite Okapi Playground.

The father, Lars, has been moved into an enclosure next door whilst Nadifa bonds with her new arrival.

Nadifa was born at Marwell in 2007, so the zoo said the arrival of her foal is 'a continuation of Marwell’s commitment to conserving this Critically Endangered species, which we’ve had since 1993'.

This is Nadifa’s third foal and Lars has become a father for the fifth time. Keepers have confirmed the foal is male but haven’t given him a name yet.

Senior animal keeper Darren Ives said: “The team is very excited after a year-long wait for the foal to be born, and what makes it even more special is we haven’t had an African wild ass foal born at Marwell since 2020.

“The foal has already been seen doing ‘zoomies’ around the paddock and is looking nice and healthy.

“The foal has also caught the attention of the addax, who are also Critically Endangered, in the enclosure next to them as they have been seen watching each other though the fence.”

READ MORE: Sitatunga calf born at Marwell Zoo takes its first steps

A group of African wild asses is sometimes called a coffle. A female is a jenny or jennet and a male is a jack or jackass.

African wild asses can survive for up to three days without water.

They have sharp incisor teeth which they use, along with their hooves, to break apart tougher food.

The only permanent bond formed by African wild asses is the bond between a mother and her babies.

African wild asses live in small groups of five or fewer and females typically give birth to a single foal every other year.

African wild asses are members of the horse family, Equidae, and are thought to be ancestors of domestic donkeys.

They have short, smooth grey coats that fade to white on their underbellies and large ears that provide an excellent sense of hearing used to avoid threats.

Often living near water sources, African wild asses have a black stripe along their spine, known as a dorsal stripe, a stiff upright mane and horizontal black stripes on their legs.

Marwell zoo is owned and managed by conservation charity Marwell Wildlife.  To find out more about their conservation work in the UK and around the world visit www.marwell.org.uk.

They are currently working to raise £20,000 towards an extension to their snow leopard habitat. You can help them at https://marwell_wildlife.donr.com/snow_leopard2