Mammals · Equids

Zebra

Equus (three living species)

Plains stable · mountain & Grevy's vulnerable

Zebras are African wild horses known instantly for their black-and-white striped coat, no two patterns ever quite alike. Three living species — plains, mountain and Grevy’s zebra — range across open grassland and savanna, moving in tight family groups or, for the plains zebra, in some of the largest wildlife migrations left on Earth.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Perissodactyla

Family: Equidae

Genus: Equus

Species: 3 living: plains (E. quagga), mountain (E. zebra), Grevy’s (E. grevyi)

Nearest relatives: Horses and wild asses

Size

Grevy’s zebra is largest at up to 9 ft long and 990 lbs; mountain zebra smallest of the three at around 5.5–8.5 ft and 550–820 lbs.

Habitat

Open grassland, savanna and scrubland across eastern and southern Africa; mountain zebra also occupies rocky, mountainous terrain.

Description

A stocky, horse-like build with a black-and-white striped coat unique to each individual, like a human fingerprint. Grevy’s zebra has narrower stripes and large rounded ears; mountain zebra carries a distinctive dewlap on the throat.

Diet

Herbivore — primarily grasses, supplemented with leaves and bark when grass is scarce.

Speed

Up to 35–40 mph, with sharp zigzagging useful for evading predators.

Communication

Barks, brays, snorts and a wide range of ear, tail and body postures.

Gestation

About 12–13 months.

Birth & Litter Size

A single foal, able to stand and walk within an hour of birth and run alongside the herd within a day.

Sexually Mature

Around 2–3 years for females, 3–6 years for males.

Life Span

20–25 years in the wild.

Social Structure

Plains and mountain zebras live in stable family harems of one stallion, several mares and their foals; Grevy’s zebra has a looser, territorial structure with less permanent grouping.

Predators

Lions are the main threat, along with hyenas, wild dogs and crocodiles at river crossings.

Did You Know?

No two zebras share the same stripe pattern — it is as individual as a human fingerprint, and foals learn to recognize their mother partly by her unique stripes.

Did You Know?

A zebra’s skin underneath its coat is black. The white stripes are areas where pigment production is switched off during development.

Did You Know?

Plains zebra join wildebeest each year on the Great Migration across the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem, one of the largest overland animal migrations left on Earth.