Rare polka-dotted zebra caught on camera

Unusual pattern the result of pigmented melanin darkening the skin

Footage of a hugely rare polka dot zebra has been captured in Kenya.

The foal was photographed in the Maasai Mara National Reserve.

Antony Tira, a tour guide at the park, snapped the unusual creature, whose distinct patterns are understood to be caused by a skin disorder.

He said he initially assumed the newborn must have been captured and marked by humans “for the purposes of migration”.

But closer inspection revealed the unusual coat was a natural phenomenon.

It is believed to be the result of a condition called melanism – essentially the opposite of albinism – in which a build-up of pigmented melanin darkens the skin.

Wildlife specialists at the famous Matira Camp in the reserve said it was the first time such a zebra had been recorded there.

But they warned conservationists and future visitors against getting too excited, telling The National newspaper that none of the Zebras with such a condition recorded in other African parks had lived very long.

Although exactly why they had such a short life expectancy remains unexplained, Ren Larison, a biologist studying the evolution of zebra stripes at the University of California, in the US, told National Geographic that predators were more likely to target animals that looked different to others in the belief that difference signified a weakness.

“Research on other species has shown that, while it is harder for a predator to target an individual in a group, it is easier if an individual is different,” she says.

Stripes are also thought to be a way at deterring disease carrying flies from landing on zebras – a protection this foal won’t have.