Meet Beaker and Beetlejuice, Oakland Zoo’s newest zebras

Oakland Zoo’s older female zebras, Jumoke and Stormy, are slowly being introduced to a pair of energetic young males, Beaker and Beetlejuice, 1 and 2 years old, that arrived in October.

Although the full herd of four are on display, the zoo staff have put up a cyclone fence to separate the females from the young males as they get used to each other.

“Introducing young boys to older ladies can sometimes be a little risky,” zookeeper Amber Paczkowski said. “It would be like suddenly going from living by yourself to living with toddlers.”

As the zoo staff slowly train the two young males to live in their new zoo environment, Jumoke and Stormy are taking a keen interest in their new stall mates, according to Paczkowski. Jumoke and Beaker in particular have been seen snout-to-snout through the cyclone fence quite often.

After the zoo’s zebra population dwindled in the past couple of years due to some of the older zebras dying of old age, the zoo decided to purchase the young males from Safari West in Santa Rosa to bring the number back up to four.

“Having a herd of only two zebras is not very natural or socially stimulating for our zebras,” Paczkowski said. Also, according to zoo staff, male zebras are typically more behaviorally calm than females; therefore, introducing males to the herd is the easiest on the older females.

The zebras can be seen in the African savanna section of the zoo. Go to www. oaklandzoo.org for more information, upcoming events and holiday hours.

PHOTO BY LAURA A. ODA Beaker, left, and Beetlejuice, two young male zebras that recently arrived at the Oakland Zoo, stick together as they graze. They came to the zoo from Safari West in Santa Rosa last month, joining two older female zebras, Stormy and Jumoke.