Zebra

Africa's striped horses

Zebras can be recognized easily by their black and white striped body. There are 3 species of zebra, all found in Africa.

The Plains or Burchell's zebra is found in open or wooded grasslands from northern South Africa westwards to Etosha Pan in Namibia and north as far as southern Somalia and southern Sudan. The Mountain zebra is found in semi-desert or savanna grasslands in Namibia and South Africa. Grevy's zebra is found in hot, dry semi-deserts in southern and eastern Ethiopia and northern Kenya.

Plains and Mountain zebras stand about 1.3m at the shoulder and weigh 200 - 380 kg. Grevy's zebras are a little bigger - about 1.4-1.6m high and up to 450 kg. All zebras have a neat, upright mane.

Different stripes
The 3 species of zebra can be identified by their stripes. The Plains zebra has stripes that reach under the belly. They broaden at the flanks and bend backwards towards the rump, forming a Y-shaped 'saddle'.

The stripes on Mountain zebras stop short of the white belly and form a distinctive pattern on the rump. Mountain zebras also have a small flap or dewlap on their throats.

Grevy's zebra has a white, unstriped belly, narrow stripes, and large rounded ears with white tips.


Zebra herds
Plains zebras live in family herds with several females (mares) and their offspring. The herd is led by an adult male (stallion). The stallion protects the mares and young against enemies and wards of other stallions. When cornered the leader puts up stiff resistance, kicking and biting fiercely. A family stays together and if the stallion is killed, is adopted by another male.

Young males leave the herd between 1 and 3 years of age and join the bachelor herd. At 5 or 6 years many of them attempt to kidnap young females and if successful, a new one-male herd is formed.

Grevy's zebras have a different social organisation. Adult males defend a territory and will mate with a female on heat if she passes through his territory. Grevy's zebras form loose groups of up to 100, but the only lasting attachment is between the mare and her young foal.




What do zebras eat?
Zebras are generally grazers, feeding mainly on grass. They prefer tall grasses which most other species seem to avoid. Grevy's zebras also eat leaves.

Sharing resources: life on the savanna
One of the distinctive sounds of the African savanna is the call of the Plains zebra - a cross between a donkey’s bray and a horse’s whinny.

Zebras often mingle with other herbivores in mixed herds. This is partly for mutual defence: the larger the herd, the less likely any individual animal will be picked off by a lion. An alarm call by a zebra alerts the whole herd to danger.

Also, because zebras remove long, coarse grasses, they help other grazing animals such as wildebeeste or buffalo to find shorter, more succulent grazing.

Raising the young
A zebra mare might give birth any time of year. Her newborn foal has brown stripes and is short-bodied and high-legged. Just a few minutes after being born, it wobbles to its feet and within an hour can run by its mother's side. The foal starts to nibble at grasses when only a week old, but continues to drink its mother's milk for almost a year. It will grow fast, doubling its birth weight in just a few weeks.

Conservation concern
Grevy's zebras are now considered endangered because they are found in fewer places today than just 20 years ago. Although Grevy's live in hot, dry areas, they need to drink water every few days, but now the water holes are crowded with large herds of sheep, goats and cattle.

Competition with livestock for water and grazing has greatly reduced the range of the Grevy's zebra. Grevy's and other zebras are sometimes poached for their skins and meat.

Mountain zebras that live in Namibia (Hartmann's mountain zebra) are also threatened: their population may only be about 6,000 animals. Those living in South Africa (Cape mountain zebras) are endangered. Only a few hundred exist on private game reserves and ranches.