Orphan gazelle gets surrogate mums

Al Ain Zoo officials hope to integrate a baby Mhorr gazelle into its existing herd.

A rare baby gazelle is being cared for by zookeepers in Al Ain after his mother died giving birth last month.

The spindly-legged orphan is doing well, zoo officials said of the little Mhorr gazelle, an animal that only exists in captivity.

"It's perfectly healthy, growing and putting on weight," said Dr Arshad Toosy, the manager of veterinary operations for Al Ain Zoo.

Zookeepers hope to integrate the baby with the zoo's herd of Mhorr gazelles once he can feed himself, which will probably be in a few months, Dr Toosy said.

The Mhorr gazelle, a subspecies of the Dama gazelle, once lived in the Sahara desert in Morocco. Today there are none left in the wild, their population depleted by hunting and the overgrazing of domestic livestock. Al Ain Zoo maintains a herd of 25 of the animals as part of its collection of desert antelopes.

The gazelle, born on September 5, does not have a name yet. His mother died after her uterus prolapsed. "Unfortunately we were not able to save the mother," Dr Toosy said.

Zookeepers have served as surrogate mothers, bottle-feeding the animal up to six times a day with vitamin-enriched goat's milk. The gazelle is kept in a separate pen but near the herd so he can stay connected with the animals.

Zookeepers used a similar strategy last year, raising a giraffe calf after it was abandoned by its mother. "We have done it with other species, but specifically with this species, this is the first time," Dr Toosy said.