Zipper, a 27-year-old zebra at Roger Williams Park Zoo in Rhode Island, was fatally wounded last week in what the zoo says was likely an attack by a habitat mate. She was sharing her enclosure with wildebeest and watusi cattle, animals known for their large horns, and staff had to make the painful decision to euthanize her. This is the second zebra death at the zoo in about a year: another zebra died last summer after a thunderstorm spooked her into a fence.

Two unexplained deaths in twelve months is not bad luck. It's a pattern, and patterns deserve real scrutiny, not just an internal review conducted by the same zoo whose habitat design may be the problem. Right now, the zoo has only committed to reviewing the incident itself and adjusting "as needed." That's not good enough for the animals still living there.

Tundra, the zoo's only remaining zebra, is currently being kept under close observation while the zoo considers bringing in new zebras to join her. Before that happens, an independent animal-welfare authority, not zoo staff alone, should evaluate whether mixing zebras with horned species in a shared habitat is safe at all, and what changes are needed to protect Tundra and any zebra that comes after her.

Zoos exist because we trust them to keep animals safe. When that trust is tested twice in one year, the response can't come only from the people whose decisions are being questioned.

Sign the petition to demand an independent investigation into Zipper's death and stronger protections for Tundra, before another zebra pays the price.