Zebra Gestation Period: How Long Is a Zebra Pregnant?

How long is a zebra pregnant?

A zebra carries her foal for an average of 375 days, or about 12 months and 1 week. Counting from the breeding date, foaling is normal anywhere from day 360 to day 390.

Key checkpoints across the 375-day zebra gestation, measured in days from breeding:

Estimate your zebra's foaling date

Enter the breeding date for an estimated foaling date at 375 days.

Zebra gestation stages, month by month

Signs a zebra is pregnant

• No outward change for the first several months
• Hormone tests or ultrasound confirm pregnancy in managed care
• A wider, deeper belly from around month nine
• Udder development in the final weeks

Signs of approaching foaling

• Wax-like drops on the teats shortly before foaling, as in horses
• The mare moving slightly apart from the group and becoming restless
• Contact your vet if labour stalls, if the animal strains without progress, or if there is abnormal discharge before foaling begins.

What affects zebra gestation length

• This page uses the plains zebra, the most common species. Its gestation is about 12 to 13 months, slightly longer than a domestic horse.
• Plains zebras can breed all year, but in many areas births peak in the rainy season, when grass is most plentiful.
• A foal is born with brown and white stripes and can stand within about 15 minutes, then walk and run within an hour, which is essential in herds that are constantly watched by predators.
• For the first few days the mare keeps other zebras away so the foal learns to recognise her stripes, voice and scent.
• Mares can come back into season about a week after foaling, but in the wild they usually give birth once every one to three years.
• Grévy's zebra, a separate endangered species, has a longer gestation of around 13 months.

Zebra gestation chart

Every fifth breeding date across the year with the matching foaling date, calculated at 375 days. Find the row closest to the date the zebra was served; because normal gestation spans 360 to 390 days, plan for a window of a few days either side. Filter by month, or print the chart for the barn wall or breeding record: navigation, buttons and adverts are hidden on paper.

Sources for zebra gestation figures

Figures on this page are drawn from AZA and zoo equid husbandry information, Smithsonian's National Zoo zebra fact sheets and field studies of wild plains zebras, and checked against the references below. Averages describe healthy animals under normal management; individual animals vary, and nothing here replaces advice from your vet.

• Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) — species husbandry and animal care manuals
• Smithsonian's National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute — species fact sheets
• Published zoological studies of captive births