Grevy's Zebra by artists Gillie and Marc

LOCATIONS

EDITION 1 - SINGAPORE - 19 May 2023 - 18 May 2024
Gardens By The Bay, 18 Marina Gardens Dr, Singapore 018953
Visit the sculpture, click for map >

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NAME
Adimu

TITLE
Love The Grevy's Zebra

GENDER
Female

AGE
8

FOUND
Kenya and Ethiopia

CONSERVATION STATUS
Endangered

This zebra is 8 years old and has loved making her home on the beautiful grasslands of Ethiopia. Even though she may look similar to everyone in her herd, she knows she is special and unique. Even so, the humans that she shares her beloved home with don’t seem to see her the same way. They are constantly taking more of her land to give to their livestock and even come out with guns! She knows her family is dropping in numbers and hopes that she can find support to save her herd.

With stripes as unique as our fingerprints, the zebra is an iconic member of African wildlife. Grevy’s zebra is the largest and most endangered and is more closely related to the wild donkey than the horse, the more common plains zebras’ cousins. Its name comes from the president of France, Jules Grevy who was given a zebra as a gift by the emperor of Abyssinia (modern-day Ethiopia) in 1882. When a French zoologist met the gifted creature, he named it in honour of his president.  

Zebras only give birth to one foal at a time and these babies are born with the ability to walk nearly immediately. Their ability to run is a very important against the threat of predators. New mothers keep their young separate for the first few days of their foals life so that they don’t imprint on any other mare. The foals must learn their mother's pattern, vocalisations, and scent and in the first few days of their life, they will follow anyone. Once the foal has imprinted, she will sometime leave her foal in a ‘kindergarten’ while she goes in search of water. These are groups of foals protected by an adult, often a territorial male, and a mare. Normally the foal will follow his mother wherever she goes, learning what to eat and the migratory routes of the herd following the seasons. 

Grevy’s zebra is a very important part of the ecosystem on the dry, semi-arid scrub and grasslands they call home. Grazing with many other creatures such as antelope and wildebeest, the zebra helps them all out by taking off the hard, dry ends of the grass that the other grazers can’t digest. The zebra is well adapted to this environment. Unlike the plains zebra who needs lots of water, Grevy’s can go 5 days without any at all!

Grevy’s zebra has seen one of the biggest declines in their environment than any other African animal. With more and more land being converted to grazing pastures for livestock, the zebra has to compete for both food and water. Because of this, the survival rate of young zebras is very low. In the past 30 years, the population has dropped approximately 54%. In Ethiopia, the main threat is hunting, primarily for their skins but also for their meat and use in medicines.

HOW TO HELP 
Inspired by real animals that Gillie and Marc met on their travels, we invite the public to discover and interact with these beautiful creatures up close and personal – this allows audiences to connect, take photographs and share their favourite species with friends and family.

With more exposure comes more awareness and builds on the love we already have for animals around the world. With love comes a greater sense of urgency to create a change and save all endangered animals. 

​The sculpture will be aligned with the hashtag #LoveTheLast to raise unparalleled awareness about the sculpture’s cause across the globe.

To help protect these animals, please donate to the WWF: https://www.wwf.sg/