Zebra dies after she’s found with ‘tragic’ head injury at the Dallas Zoo

A zebra at the Dallas Zoo has died after she was found unresponsive with a head injury, the zoo announced Wednesday.

Keeya, a 6-year-old Hartmann’s mountain zebra, was discovered unresponsive in the Texas zoo’s Giants of the Savanna habitat on Tuesday.

Zoo officials said they believe Keeya may have been injured by another animal in the habitat, though no staff members saw what happened.

Veterinarians and zoologists moved Keeya from the enclosure to assess her injuries and spent hours treating her before determining she wouldn’t be able to make a full recovery due to the severity of her injuries.

“Veterinarians made the difficult decision to humanely euthanize her,” the zoo said, calling the events leading to her death a “tragic accident.”

A necropsy showed that Keeya had suffered a fractured spine, which paralyzed her lower limbs. The zoo said recovery from the injury would have been “impossible.”

Zoo officials remembered Keeya as being “shy, but sweet” with a “silly side.”

She liked to roll around in her habitat and chase her foal Malawa — the first Hartmann’s mountain zebra born at the Dallas Zoo. Keeya was remembered as “a protective and attentive mother” to Malawa.

The zoo acquired Keeya from Bruce Fairchild, an Austin mountain zebra breeder in 2017, Dallas Culture Map reported.

She was then mated with a zebra named Saba and gave birth to their son in January 2020.

“Keeya will be deeply missed,” the zoo said. “Please send your thoughts and condolences to Keeya’s care team and our entire zoo family as we grieve this sudden, tragic loss.”