Winchcombe Reclamation: Zaza

Hello,

I'm Zaza the zebra who you might see hanging around the Cotswold’s. I guess you're wondering what I'm doing all the way over here and not at home in Africa with my fellow zebra friends. Well that's why I've decided try out using this thing called the internet to tell you where it all began. (Please bare with me on this one, I'm not used to this writing malarkey).

So, in May 2015 my good friend Dave Danson Hill was asked by the Wilderness Wildlife Trust and TUSK to build a 4-meter tall rhino to raise awareness of the species and how its global population has been endangered by decades of poaching. The Wilderness Wildlife Trust supports a wide variety of projects across Africa, seeking to find solutions to protect and save endangered species. TUSK has worked to help keep many different endangered species safe. These include the African Elephant, black and white rhino, cheetah, chimpanzee, mountain and lowland gorilla, African wild dog and Grevy's zebra.
This Rhino stands proudly on the cliffs looking over Port Isaac in Cornwall. He named this masterpiece Wryno. Due to Dave's links with friends in Africa, it was decided that this could not only support a number of different charities but also become a wide range of beautifully crafted 4-meter tall wild animals. And this is where I come in.

I support the plight of my cousin, the Grevy's zebra - we are becoming one of the most endangered species because of hunting and losing our habitats. We used to be found in many different areas of the world. Here are just a few: Ethiopia, Kenya and East Africa. However due to our rapid decline, we are now confined to the Horn of Africa (Southern Ethiopia and Northern Kenya).... and now the Cotswold’s!! Who would of thought it ay?! Apart from all the rain and chilly weather, I'm actually really enjoying it here, no running away from cheetahs and lions, just relaxing and nibbling on your wonderful green grass. YUM! Our main predators are lions, cheetahs and leopards. We do however have extremely good eyesight, handy for spotting anyone coming our way. Our stripes on our bodies makes it difficult for the predators to pick out an individual, so running away as a group is safer for us all.

Let's rewind a little bit so I can explain to you all how I became such a wonderfully beautiful, fantastic zebra. Believe it or not, my life began as a single sheet of wood; this became drawings that became paper models that finally became ME! Dave the designer spent many evenings figuring out the best way to build my 4-meter tall figure, how my stripes would be fitted and how my ears would be made.

Below are a few selfies of me showing off my stripes...