Zebra died from a twisted intestine

Marty the zebra died from a twisted intestine, a team of vets discovered during their autopsy of the carcass of the Emperor Valley Zoo’s male zebra who died early Saturday. The examination found that while Marty was able to eat, the food was not properly passing through his intestinal tract to produce stool. He died of colic.

Four vets were attendance over the last two days of Marty’s life. Since the arrival of the pair of zebras on July 28, 2017, these young animals were being closely monitored and it was observed that Marty was not progressing as well as his female companion, Zoe.

The Zoo’s management has confirmed that following the quarantine period, the animals were receiving regular veterinary care by the Zoo’s wildlife veterinarian and were on the recommended diet for this type of animal. However, the female was responding better and Marty took a turn for the worse in the last couple weeks. From the inception of his clinical illness, he was under constant veterinary monitoring and care, the Zoo’s management said.

Marty died at 2.32 am on Saturday, the autopsy was done at 8.30 am and he was buried at 10 am at the zoo’s burial site. “It’s a sad thing. I feel like a child of mine died,” said the spokesman. Regarding the care of the two baby zebras, he said they had been fed by hand by a staff member every day. He said plans are now afoot to expand the size of the zebra enclosure.