Three zebras arrive at Keralam’s Thiruvananthapuram zoo from Gujarat

Three zebras arrive at Keralam's Thiruvananthapuram zoo from Gujarat This marks return of zebras to the zoo after almost a decade.

Key points

• Zebras from Vantara, Jamnagar, arrived in a special animal ambulance at the Thiruvananthapuram zoo on Thursday.
• Manjula Devi remarked the zoo had been trying to add animals such as zebras and giraffe to its collection for numerous years but that could not materialise.
• This marks the return of zebras to the zoo after almost a decade.
• Nevertheless, their open quarantine period is not without risks since the stress of transporation manifests during this time.
• Injections were given for the wounds sustained before releasing the zebras into the enclosure.

Zebras from Vantara, Jamnagar, arrived in a special animal ambulance at the Thiruvananthapuram zoo on Thursday. Photo Credit: NIRMAL HARINDRAN.

Onam is turning out to be golden for the Thiruvananthapuram city zoo. A day after two seven-month-old lion cubs created their public debut, much to the delight of visitors, not just two but three zebras reached the facility early Thursday morning (August 20, 2026) from Gujarat.

This marks the return of zebras to the zoo after almost a decade. The zebras, one male and two female, were brought from the Greens Zoological Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre (Vantara) at Jamnagar in Gujarat by road in an animal ambulance. A zoo team, including superintendent T.V. Anil Kumar, met up with the team from Vantara at Parassala and brought over the animals under police escort to reach the zoo around 5.15 a.m.

Though the initial plan was to bring a pair of zebras aged five and three, the zoo decided at the last-minute to ask for an extra female zebra. Explaining the rationale, zoo veterinary surgeon Nikesh Kiran remarked a sustainable herd population was two males for three females. This would ensure genetic diversity naturally. Planned breeding was additionally an option. But for that at least a couple of female zebras were needed. If the zoo were to limit itself to a male and a female, once the parents were past the age of having young ones, the population would go down. The city zoo once had 22 zebras, and it did not want to be left without a single zebra for a decade again, Dr. Kiran remarked.

In practice, the second female to be brought over belonged to a separate herd. That could be a reason for the minor injuries it sustained during transporation, unlike the other two zebras. It is younger than the other two at 2.5 years of age, he remarked.

Since the three zebras were not applied to the presence of human beings, they were highly nervous initially, but had shortly settled down in the old giraffe enclosure they were shifted to temporarily as their own enclosure gets ready.

Nevertheless, their open quarantine period is not without risks since the stress of transporation manifests during this time. The zebras could develop pasteurellosis infection or capture myopathy owing to the stress experienced during the two-and-a-half-day journey here. A close eye was being kept on them for this reason.

Injections were given for the wounds sustained before releasing the zebras into the enclosure. Some medicines would additionally be mixed into the water given to them. In Gujarat, they were being fed a particular type of dried grass called Timothy grass hay. The team from Gujarat brought over stock for a week, but in the meanwhile the zebras would have to be acclimatised to locally available hay (they do not need green grass). Salt licks will be hung in the enclosure for the animals to obtain their mineral intake, and supplements and microflora to improve gut health would be given, Dr. Kiran remarked.

Zoo director P.S. Manjula Devi remarked the zoo had been trying to add animals such as zebras and giraffe to its collection for numerous years but that could not materialise. Once she took over as director, earnest efforts were created to secure the zebras from various facilities since only animal exchange was an option, not purchase. With Vantara, they hit the mark. In return, the city zoo is giving away a king cobra and a lion-tailed macaque to Vantara.

In short, three zebras arrive at Keralam's Thiruvananthapuram zoo from Gujarat is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.