Puga died after zookeepers found him with a deep wound that had caused extensive damage to his left thigh. He had been attacked by one of the world’s largest horned antelopes, a common eland that was sharing his habitat in the San Juan de Aragón Zoo in Mexico City.
The incident occurred on Saturday morning, August 27, according to a statement obtained by Zenger News from the Ministry of the Environment of Mexico City.
A team of veterinary doctors from the General Directorate of Zoos and Wildlife Conservation took Puga, a Grant’s zebra (Equus quagga boehmi), into surgery and fought to control his bleeding as they attempted to repair the damage caused by the goring.
Sadly, Puga died despite the team’s best efforts.
“Zebras have a temperamental character and sometimes interact through a certain degree of aggression, in different seasons of the year, including the mating season.
“The staff that works in the General Directorate of Zoos and Wildlife Conservation is saddened by the death of this great specimen who was an ambassador of his species and of the African savanna region, who contributed to the education of each one of the visitors to the San Juan de Aragón Zoo by learning about and appreciating the importance of zebras within the ecosystem,” said a statement from Mexico City environmental authorities.
Puga was born at the Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City on February 23, 2014. He was taken to the African Savannah Zone of the San Juan de Aragón Zoo five years later on December 6, 2019, following the official account.
“He shared the lodge with the Eland antelope (Taurotragus oryx), one of the various species of wild herbivores that normally cohabit and coexist without any problem.
“The common or plains zebras are the most common type of zebra in the savannas of East Africa and one of the best-known representatives of the fauna of the African continent; they are very sociable and live in family groups that in turn form large herds of this species and other herbivores including antelopes and gazelles; each year they are part of the largest migration of land mammals in the world, in search of temporary rains and food,” continued the statement from the Mexico City authorities.
While there are more Grant’s zebras found in the wild than any other zebra subspecies, Grant’s zebras are regionally extinct in Burundi due to political conflict.
Despite this, they are not listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, unlike Grévy’s zebras, which are larger and taller with narrower stripes and only 2,500 adult specimens are left in the wild.
This story was provided to Newsweek by Zenger News.
