Nearly a decade since the Thiruvananthapuram zoo’s last zebra breathed her last, the facility is set to introduce visitors to a pair of zebras this Onam.

The zebras, a male and a female, are being brought from the Greens Zoological Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre (Vantara) at Jamnagar in Gujarat.

Aged five and three, the pair from Vantara are of breeding age, something that the city zoo considered when adding the animals with the distinctive black-and-white-striped coats to its collection.

Zoo veterinary surgeon Nikesh Kiran was at Vantara earlier this month to examine the health of the two zebras. Though a date has not been finalised, the zebras are expected to start for Thiruvananthapuram by road in a specially designed animal ambulance in a couple of days. The journey is expected to take around three days during which the animals will be cared for by a team from Vantara, led by a veterinary surgeon.

Zoo director Manjula Devi, in a statement, expressed happiness at being able to bring the zebras to the zoo after a decade and hoped the new arrivals would be ready for public display by Onam.

In exchange for the zebras, the city zoo will give away a king cobra and a lion-tailed macaque to Vantara.

It was in March 2017 that Sita, the lone zebra at the zoo, died following a cardiac arrest. She had been brought at the age of 10 from the Vandalur zoo in Chennai in April 2002 to partner Mani, the resident zebra of the zoo. However, they were not to be together for Mani who suffered from laminitis died a few months later in 2003. Sita was alone for years, without mate or progeny, after plans to bring another zebra to the zoo failed to materialise. She was a familiar sight to city residents who frequented the zoo. Towards the fag end of 2016, she was taken off display, her chronic arthritis making it difficult for her to walk. A few months later, she died.

The arrival of the new zebras will fill a huge void in the zoo’s animal collection, not to mention gladden the hearts of all those waiting to see zebras roam the enclosures again.

Published - August 15, 2026 07:01 pm IST