![]() North-east South Africa, north to Zimbabwe, west into Botswana, the Caprivi Strip in Namibia, and southern Angola.īurchell's zebra, Equus quagga burchellii – Gray, 1824 ![]() Zambia west of the Luangwa River and west to Kariba, Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, north to the Kibanzao Plateau, and in Tanzania north from Nyangaui and Kibwezi into southwestern Kenya as far as Sotik and southwestern Ethiopia from Omo Valley to Nechisar plains in the north and Yabello and Borena Zone to the east.Ĭrawshay's zebra, Equus quagga crawshayi – De Winton, 1896Įastern Zambia, east of the Luangwa River, Malawi, southeastern Tanzania, and northern Mozambique south to the Gorongoza DistrictĬhapman's zebra, Equus quagga chapmani – Layard, 1865 Grant's zebra, Equus quagga boehmi – Matschie, 1892 Northwestern Kenya (from Uasin Gishu and Lake Baringo) to the Karamoja district of Uganda. Maneless zebra, Equus quagga borensis – Lönnberg, 1921 In their 2004 study of cranial and pelage differences between specimens, Groves and Bell found support for the division of the plains zebra into six subspecies: Image In areas where plains zebras are sympatric with Grévy's zebras, finding them in the same herds is not unusual, and fertile hybrids occur. Groves and Bell (2004) place all three species in the subgenus Hippotigris, and zebras appear to be a monophyletic lineage. The plains zebra and mountain zebra were traditionally placed in the subgenus Hippotigris, in contrast to Grévy's zebra, which was considered the sole species of the subgenus Dolichohippus however, recent (2013) phylogenetic evidence finds that plains zebras are more closely related to Grévy's zebras than mountain zebras. After the quagga, described by Pieter Boddaert in 1785, was found to be the same species in the 21st century, the plains zebra was reclassified as Equus quagga due to the principle of priority. The plains zebra was formally classified by British zoologist John Edward Gray in 1824 as Equus burchellii. The species population is stable and not endangered, though populations in most countries have declined sharply. ![]() The plains zebra remains common in game reserves, but is threatened by human activities such as hunting for its meat and hide, as well as competition with livestock and encroachment by farming on much of its habitat, and is listed as near threatened by the IUCN as of 2016. ![]() The animals keep watch for predators they bark or snort when they see a predator and the harem stallion attacks predators to defend his harem. Plains zebras are a highly social species, forming harems with a single stallion, several mares and their recent offspring bachelor groups also form. Zebras are preyed upon by lions and spotted hyenas, Nile crocodiles and, to a lesser extent, leopards, cheetahs and African wild dogs. They generally avoid desert, dense rainforest and permanent wetlands. The plain zebra's habitat is generally, but not exclusively, treeless grasslands and savanna woodlands, both tropical and temperate. Great variation in coat patterns exists between clines and individuals. Plains zebras are intermediate in size between the larger Grévy's zebra and the smaller mountain zebra and tend to have broader stripes than both. More recent research supports variations in zebra populations being clines rather than subspecies. Six or seven subspecies have been recognised, including the extinct quagga which was thought to be a separate species. Its range is fragmented, but spans much of southern and eastern Africa south of the Sahara. The plains zebra ( Equus quagga, formerly Equus burchellii), also known as the common zebra, is the most common and geographically widespread species of zebra. ![]()
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