Africa Wild

The mammal chosen for October is the Zebra and information and pictures on any of the three species, the Plains Zebra (Equus burchelli), Grevy's Zebra (Equus greyvi) or the Mountain Zebra (Equus zebra) will be most welcome.

Naturally as the plains Zebra tends to be more prolific and wide spread in Southern Africa we would expect a greater influx of info and pics for these most photogenic of animals. It would be interesting if anyone has pictures or submissions of the other two species, so please scratch around and submit those as well.

A few Zebra facts taken from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebra

The common plains zebra is about 50–52 inches (12.2–13 hands, 1.3 m) at the shoulder with a body ranging from 6–8.5 feet (2–2.6 m) long with an 18-inch (0.5 m) tail. It can weigh up to 770 pounds (350 kg), males being slightly bigger than females. Grévy's Zebra is considerably larger, while the mountain zebra is somewhat smaller.
Female zebras mature earlier than the males, and a mare may have her first foal by the age of three.

Males are not able to breed until the age of five or six. Mares may give birth to one foal every twelve months. She nurses the foal for up to a year. Like horses, zebras are able to stand, walk and suckle shortly after they are born. A zebra foal is brown and white instead of black and white at birth.

Plains and mountain zebra foals are protected by their mothers, as well as the head stallion and the other mares in their group. Grévy's zebra foals have only their mother as a regular protector, since Grévy's zebra groups often disband after a few months.

I'll get the ball rolling with this waterhole pic taken in Etosha

Mountain Zebra

Two subspecies of Mountain Zebra (Equus zebra) are traditionally recognized, the nominate race E. z. zebra (Cape Mountain Zebra) and E. z. hartmannae (Hartmann's Mountain Zebra).
All three species of zebra are characterised by distinctive black and white stripes, the function of which is still being debated. The pattern of striping in mountain zebras is intermediate between that of Grevy’s zebra and Burchell’s zebra. The stripes on the body are generally narrower and more numerous than those of Burchell’s zebra, with no sign of shadow (faint) stripes between them. The wide horizontal stripes on the rump are broader than those of the other zebras. Mountain zebras are also the only zebra species to possess a dewlap, or skin fold on their throats, a feature that is most developed in males. The underparts are generally white, although there is a mid-ventral black stripe on the chest and belly. The Cape mountain zebra is usually smaller than Hartmann’s mountain zebra, with wider black stripes.

Historically, Mountain Zebras occurred from the southern parts of South Africa through Namibia and into extreme south-western Angola.
Cape Mountain Zebras were widely distributed along mountain ranges forming the southern and western edge of the of the central plateau of the Eastern Cape and Western Cape provinces of South Africa, from the Amatola Mountains in the Cathcart District westward and northward to the Kamiesberg in Namaqualand in the Northern Cape. Today, surviving natural populations of Cape Mountain Zebra occur only in Mountain Zebra National Park, Gamka Mountain Reserve, and the Kamanassie mountains. Populations have been reintroduced to various parts of their former range, including Karoo National Park, De Hoop Nature Reserve, Karoo Nature Reserve, Camdeboo National Park, Commando Drift Nature Reserve, Baviaanskloof Wilderness Area, Tsolwana Nature Reserve and Gariep Dam Nature Reserve.
Hartmann’s Mountain Zebras occur in the mountainous transition zone between the Namib Desert and the central plateau in Namibia, with a marginal extension into south-western Angola. In Namibia, the establishment of artificial waterpoints have allowed Hartmann’s Mountain Zebra to occupy previously unsuitable habitat. There are four populations: from Kunene Province southwards to the Ugab River and east to the Outjo District; the Erongo Mountains; on the escarpment from the Swakop River southwards to the Naukluft Mountains and eastward along the Kuiseb and Gaub drainages into the Khomas Hochland; and the Fish River Canyon and Huns Mountains near the Orange River in the south. Hartmann's Mountain Zebra are also established in three conservation areas in the Northern Cape, South Africa: Richtersveld and Augrabies National Parks and Goegap Provincial Nature Reserve. Hartmann’s Mountain Zebras have also been introduced outside of their range in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape.

Mountain Zebra inhabit rugged, broken mountainous and escarpment areas up to around 2,000 m with a rich diversity of grass species and perennial water sources. They are predominantly grazers, only browsing if forced to do so. The typical social structure is one of small harems comprising an adult stallion and one to three (maximum five) mares and their dependent foals; non-breeding groups consist primarily of bachelors.



Cape Mountain Zebra


Hartmann's Mountain Zebra

Nice choice TR!

Thanks Flutts

Great posting Toko lots of detailed info there and some great pics.

Great Pic Pete thank you.

On this one I am going Cape Mountain Zebra by default although not absolutely discernable from a headshot seems the pic tends to represent the species (E. z. hartmannae) well. Happy to be proved wrong though, please tell us where you got this great pic and if you have any additional info or photos.

Some interesting coat patterns.

Thanks Flutts great pics, this is according to experts a melanistic mutation.

As the debate is still out on how or why zebra stripes really developed genetically, there is a great Zulu legend that provides an interesting perspective.

Zulu story about the origin of zebra stripes (as told to Brenda Larison by a researcher in Kwa-Zulu Natal)

“When the Creator first made the animals, they all had identical dull grey coats. One day the Creator
got inspired and created many new coats with beautiful colors and patterns and the word went out that
the animals could come claim them, first-come, first-pick. The animals headed off to claim their new
coats, but the zebra got distracted and stopped to graze. When a giraffe passed by with its new coat,
the zebra said to himself, ’Oh, how beautiful, I must go claim a coat for myself,’ but before long he
stopped again to graze. This pattern repeated, with the zebra being newly inspired to go claim his own
coat as newly beautiful lion, cheetah, kudu, and other animals passed by, but then, just as quickly, he
would be distracted by all the delicious grass and return to grazing. When the zebra finally reached his
destination, there was but a single solid black coat left, so he put it on. But he had grown so fat with
grazing that the coat shredded as he pulled it over his swollen belly. The zebra decided the shredded
black coat was still better than his old grey coat, so he kept it, and that is how the zebra got its
stripes.”

Well, have you ever seen a skinny zebra?

Flutterby wrote:Well, have you ever seen a skinny zebra?