Zebra foal at Wild Place Project needs a name

The newest arrival at Wild Place Project – a two-week-old zebra foal – is now in need of a name.

The male youngster was born on Saturday, April 16, to parents Florence and Peter. 

Within minutes the foal was standing and now he can be seen gambolling around the paddock he shares with his parents, along with Wild Place Project’s giraffes and elands.

Now keepers have shortlisted three names and are inviting the public to vote for their favourite via the Wild Place Project Facebook page.

The name choice options are: George, Ralph or Wallace. 

To vote for your favourite, simply visit www.facebook.com/wildplacebristol and comment on the post, with your preferred zebra name, before midnight on Wednesday May 4.

Will Walker, Animal Manager at Wild Place Project, said: “The foal is doing really well – feeding regularly, full of energy and he’s healthy and alert, which is exactly what we’d hoped to see.“

He enjoys running around the field but returns to mum often for a bit of reassurance.

“He’s mixing well with the elands in the paddock and this week we have started introducing him to the giraffes so they can get to know each other.”

Will added: “Florence is a confident mother, this is her second foal and she is doing brilliantly. 

“Pete is a great father and is protective of the youngster, putting himself between the foal and the elands if they get too close and inquisitive – so they are all doing a fantastic job.”

The new foal is a plains zebra which is classified as Near Threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Their numbers are in decline in their native Africa due to hunting and loss of habitat. 

Another youngster at Wild Place Project, a wolverine kit, is also growing well and has been spotted by visitors exploring its forest home in Bear Wood.

The kit, which is female, has been named Eunice after the February storms, which swept the nation on the night she was born.

It is the first time a wolverine kit has been born at Wild Place Project. The birth is particularly exciting as wolverines became extinct in the wild in Britain more than 8,000 years ago.

The youngster can often be spotted by patient visitors to Bear Wood, where it lives alongside its mother Alice, and father Novo.

Wild Place Project was opened by Bristol Zoological Society in 2013 with an emphasis on protecting threatened habitats on our doorsteps and around the globe. 

It is just off junction 17 of the M5, and is also home to animals from across the world including bears, wolves, lynxes, cheetahs, lemurs, meerkats and more. 

To book tickets and find out more about Wild Place Project go to wildplace.org.uk. For more information about plans to create the new Bristol Zoo which will open at the Wild Place site in 2024, go to future.bristolzoo.org.uk.