Zoo Celebrates First Birth Of Year With Baby Zebra Filomena

Storm Filomena brought some good things to Spain despite the widespread disruption to one of the biggest storms to hit the Peninsular in a generation.

A baby zebra was born in Valencia’s Bioparc zoo and named Filomena to commemorate the storm and the first arrival of the year.

The touching video was shared by Bioparc of the female Grant’s zebra (Equus burchell iboehmi) who was born at the zoo as the storm ravaged the country.

Her caretakers decided to name her Filomena after the storm that set record-low temperatures in Spain and caused extensive damage to the capital Madrid.

Zoo workers had kept Filomena inside while the storm passed, giving way to higher temperatures and better weather.

The video shows the moment the zebra foal walks alongside her mum around the enclosure, socialises with other animals, and spends some time in the sun.

Valencia Bioparc said: “This is the first birth of the year which is a great joy for the entire BIOPARC team, and just as life found a way in the middle of the storm, this beautiful baby zebra is a reason for hope to face 2021.”

There is a hypothesis that says each black stripe of a zebra has a layer of fat underneath which can get as much as 20 degrees Centigrade hotter than the white stripes. The difference in temperature creates an air current that has a thermoregulating function.