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| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
The Plains Zebra is mid-sized and thick bodied with relatively short legs. Adults of both sexes stand about 1.4 metres high at the shoulder, are approximately 2.3 metres long, and weigh about 230 kg. Like all zebras, it is boldly striped in black and white and no two individuals look exactly alike. All have vertical stripes on the forepart of the body, which tend towards the horizontal on the hindquarters. The northern species have narrower and more defined striping; southern populations have varied but lesser amounts of striping on the underparts, the legs and the hindquarters. The first subspecies to be described, the Quagga which is now extinct, had plain brown hindquarters. (Technically, because the Quagga was described first as E. quagga, the proper zoological name for the most common form of the Plains Zebra is E. quagga burchelli.)
The Plains Zebra is highly social and usually forms small family groups consisting of a single stallion, one, two, or several mares, and their recent offspring. Groups are permanent, and group size tends to vary with habitat: in poor country the groups are small. From time to time, Plains Zebra families group together into large herds, both with one another and with other grazing species, notably Blue Wildebeests.
Unlike many of the large ungulates of Africa, the Plains Zebra prefers but does not require short grass to graze on. In consequence, it ranges more widely than many other species, even into woodland, and it is often the first grazing species to appear in a well-vegetated area. Only after zebras have cropped and trampled the long grasses do wildebeests and gazelles move in. Nevertheless, for protection from predators, the Plains Zebras retreats into open areas with good visibility at night time, and takes it in turns standing watch. It eats a wide range of different grasses, preferring young, fresh growth where available, and also browses on leaves and shoots from time to time.
Information source
IUCN information
Equus grevyi information
Adult of Equus quagga boehmi information
We can see an immature Grant's Zebra. Photographed in dry grassland of the Nakuru Lake National Reserve |
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Salut Ferran!
I found your zebra staring at me here
Some lil shyte who calls himself Musty has stolen oodles of photos from us < members at TrekNature >
Thought you would wanna know! I recognized your shot!
http://lemusty.multiply.com/photos/photo/22/145
PS I have added it to my list !!! STOLEN PHOTOS !!!