A NEWBORN zebra in the Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya, is making people go wow because of its unusual appearance. For most, the word zebra brings up the image of an animal covered in black and white stripes. The newborn animal, however, is nothing like that image.

Shared by Facebook page Maasai Mara Wildlife Conservancies Association on Sept. 14, the image shows an animal covered in a pattern of small stripes and spots across its skin.

The rare zebra still has all the features of the zebra, the only difference is the white spots instead of the white stripes as any other normal zebra possess. Its another unique characteristic is the short and hairless tail, which is not the case with any normal zebra that has a brush-like tail. The young zebra also has brown coloring with the dotted markings that are unique not only in Maasai Mara but worldwide.

Many theories of research have attributed that zebra stripes help to regulate its body temperature. According to a research by the University of California Los Angeles, the amount and intensity of zebra stripes can be best predicted by the level of temperature in a given environment where the zebra lives.

It turns out that the unusual development of the strips in the foal is due to a condition called melanism, reports Daily Mail. In this condition, there is an increased build-up of dark pigmented melanin in the skin.

Antony Tira, a tour guide and photographer at Matira Bush Camp, is the one who spotted the foal. “At first I thought it was a zebra that had been captured and painted or marked for purposes of migration. I was confused when I first saw it,” he said.

The zebra is the first recorded case in Maasai Mara National Reserve. However, earlier a few melanistic zebras were spotted in other parts of Africa.

Kenya is one of the best tourism destinations not only in Africa but the entire world with rare and best national parks and game reserves. (SD-Agencies)

Maasai Mara has dominated the history of new unique discoveries in the wildlife. It was this year that black leopard was spotted in Maasai Mara.

Masai Mara is home to wildlife miracles which can excite more guests always.