Stars in stripes! (From Western Telegraph)

Stars in stripes!

A baby zebra is showing off her stripes after becoming a surprise early-morning arrival at Folly Farm Family Adventure Park.

The youngster was born to the parks recently-acquired zebra, Mitzi, who was believed to be pregnant when she took up residence in the new zoo development.

It wasnt possible to confirm her pregnancy, so it was a real shock when we found the baby, said Folly Farm managing director Chris Ebsworth. I was out chatting to a workman when he said, I like that little zebra over there, and when I looked round there was Mitzi .... and her foal! It was a wonderful surprise and a marvellous sight. The baby was up on its feet and a perfect miniature copy of its mother.

The youngster - believed to be female - was born at around 7 am on Tuesday of last week, and within hours was being seen by delighted visitors to Folly Farm.

Our new zoo development is going down very well with our visitors, and the baby zebra is the icing on the cake, said Chris, who travelled to Cumbria to collect Mitzi from the South Lanes animal attraction. Folly Farm has now become a member of the Zoo Federation, which enables animal parks in Britain to take advantage of its species management programme.

Already, alongside the zebras, are prairie dogs, porcupines, mara, rhea, wallabies, ostrich and lemur, with a small monkey enclosure under construction.