A newborn zebra foal with extremely rare polka-dot markings have been spotted in Kenya, and it is the first one to ever be seen in the Maasai Mara National Reserve.

The rare zebra was spotted and photographed by Antony Tira, a tour guide and a photographer at the Matira Bush Camp when he was observing the park’s game reserve.

Initially, Antony thought that the zebra was captured and marked for “migration purposes.”

But when he got closer, he realized that the zebra had a melanin disorder.

He said, “At first I thought it was a zebra that had been captured and painted or marked for purposes of migration. I was confused when I first saw it.”

Melanism is the opposite of albinism, and it is caused by a build-up of dark pigmented melanin the skin.

A melanistic zebra is one whose stripes have not developed properly, and instead, it has a pattern of stripes or usually white spots all over its body.

After the discovery, a stampede was caused as tourists and guides rushed to the Maasai Mara National Reserve to observe the extremely rare zebra.

Parmale Lemein, a wildlife specialist at the Matira Camp, said there has never been any record of rare markings spotted on a zebra.

Parmela added that melanistic zebras had been spotted in other parks in Africa, but none of them survived 6 months.

Mutuma Untamed, a well-known blogger, shared the incredible rare images of the rare zebra.

On a Facebook post that Mutuma made, he said, “A week old’ foal had been named after the photographer who discovered it.”

He added, “Did you know, last week a Maasai guide discovered a one of a kind hybrid baby zebra in the Maasai Mara. It is named after his surname – Tira. A few years ago there was a similar case, however that zebra still maintained the stripes and brush-like tail.”

He continued, “Rare Tira, however has patterns that appear as polka dots.”