A female Grant’s zebra and her unborn foal were found dead in their night quarters by animal keepers at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo early on the morning of July 4.

The seven-year-old female, Nettie, was pregnant with her second offspring and appeared to have died overnight during the birthing process. A necropsy (animal autopsy) will be performed to determine the cause of death and the Zoo will release results as soon as they become available.

The mare was born at the Zoo in May 2005 and was mother to a female foal, Autumn, also born at the Zoo in September 2010. The two shared their exhibit in the Zoo’s African Savanna with slender-horned gazelles.

Grant’s zebras (Eqqus burchellii boehmi) are native to Ethiopia, Somalia and northern South Africa. They have an average lifespan of 20 to 30 years.