In addition to the female Grevy's zebra foal born June 22, the Saint Louis Zoo celebrated the birth last fall of five Somali wild ass foals. The group effort, it seems, also is paying off for the endangered equids. Marshall takes WUSTL students to the zoo to observe equid behavior as part of an undergraduate research course she teaches called "Bones to Behavior." Asa has taught a spring semester evening course on animal behavior for about 20 years in WUSTL's University College in Arts & Sciences. Marshall and Asa serve as advisers to teams of zoo interns who record detailed observations of animal behavior for the research project. The fact that only three other zoos in North America have bred this species makes these little foals important additions. There currently are about 50 Somali wild asses in North America, with 11 at the Saint Louis Zoo.
In 2012, Marshall and Asa published an article on their research in the Journal of Archaeolgical Method and Theory titled "A Study of African Wild Ass Behavior Provides Insights into Conservation Issues, Domestication Processes and Archaeological Interpretation."īased on observations of a group of three young female Somali wild asses at the Saint Louis Zoo, the study provides new insight into the species' social behavior in a captive setting-a relatively good proxy environment for the early phases of wild animal domestication.įive Somali wild ass foals were born at the Saint Louis Zoo August through October 2013. In 2011, Marshall, Asa and Martha Fischer, curator of mammals/ungulates at the Saint Louis Zoo, published a paper in Zoo Biology on the behavior of the Somali wild ass. The key question here is why was one domesticated and the other not?
While almost all large domesticated mammals have wild ancestors who lived in herds with highly social behaviors and well-defined hierarchical relationships, neither wild asses nor Grevy's is reported to be social in the wild. An expanding human population, subsistence hunting, and poitical unrest in the region threaten the Somali Wild Ass’s future. The Somali wild ass is a critically endangered member of the Horse family, with as few as 400 individuals surviving in the wild in desert areas of Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia. "A zoo setting is a good analogy for many aspects of early domestication, and with wild animals held in captivity, breeding is always a key goal," Marshall said.Ī key focus of the research is seeking an explanation for a mysterious difference in the domestication history of the Grevy's Zebra and the African wild ass. Since ancient populations of African Wild ass were ancestors of donkeys, she wanted to learn more about the behavior of African wild asses to inform her work on domestication.Ĭheryl Asa, PhD, director of research at the Saint Louis Zoo, was interested in any research that would support the zoo's efforts to improve the captive breeding prospects of the endangered zebra and wild ass being cared for at the zoo. Marshall, an expert on the early origins of animal domestication, has conducted extensive research on the domestication of donkeys. The research partnership grew out of a mutual need. “We are proud to be part of the Grevy’s Zebra Species Survival Plan, an international coordinated breeding program to protect a species’ genetic diversity.”Īccording to the Toronto Zoo’s website, a Grevy’s zebra has larger ears and narrower stripes than other zebras."Washington University joined forces with Saint Louis Zoo researchers nine years ago for a study that compares African wild asses and Grevy's zebra in an effort to better understand the relationship between species behavior and the likelihood of domestication," said Fiona Marshall, PhD, professor of anthropology in Arts & Sciences.
“This is an exciting and important announcement for us because Grevy’s zebras are endangered with fewer than 2,000 left in the wild,” the zoo said. and was already up and walking just 15 minutes after coming into the world. It said the baby was born on Thursday at 10:30 p.m. The zoo posted about the birth of a baby Grevy’s zebra on its Facebook page on Friday. Send this page to someone via email emailĪ rare type of zebra was born at the Edmonton Valley Zoo this week.