Zebra Strut by TheBootesArtVoid on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

Species Name: Plains Zebra

Species Latin Name: Equus quagga

Also Known As: Common Zebra

Native To: Southern and eastern Africa south of the Sahara

Conservation Status: Near Threatened

Photo Taken At: N/A

Size (length): 2.2 – 2.5 meters (7.2 – 8.2 feet)

Size: (Height): 1.0 – 1.5 meters (3.3 – 4.9 feet)

Weight: 175 – 386kg (385.8 – 851.0 pounds)

Top Speed: 65kmh (40.4mph)

Lifespan: 9 – 40 years

Population: 750,000

Diet: Herbivore, graminivore, folivore

Lifestyle: Terrestrial, cursorial, precocial, grazing, browsing, congregatory, viviparous

Group Name: Zeal, crossing, dazzle, cohorts, herd

Female Name: Mare

Male Name: Stallion

Baby Name: Foal, colt

Mating Behaviour: Polygyny

Reproductive Season: Year round

Pregnancy Duration: 390 – 396 days

Births per pregnancy: 1 foal

Independent Age: 1 – 3 years

Age of Sexual Maturity: 16 – 22 months

Sub Species:

• Manless Zebra (Equus quagga borensis), located in northwestern Kenya to the Karamoja district of Uganda.
• Grant's Zebra (Equus quagga boehmi), located in Zambia west of the Luangwa river and west to Kariba, Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, north to Kibanzao Plateau, and located in Tanzania north from Nyangaui and kibwezi into southwestern Kenya as far as Sotik.
• Crawshay's Zebra (Equus quagga crawshayi), located in eastern Zambia, east of the Luangwa River, Malawi, southeastern Tanzania, and located in northern Mozambique south to the Gorongoza District.
• Chapman's Zebra (Equus quagga chapmani), located in north-east South Africa, north to Zimbabwe, west into Botswana, the Caprivi Strip in Namibia, and located in southen Angola.
• Burchell's Zebra (Equus quagga burchellii), located in southern Botswana to Etosha and the Kaokoveld, and located in southest to Eswatini and KwaZuluNatal
• Quagga (Equus quagga quagga), formerly located in South Africa. Conservation Status: Extinct
• Selous Zebra (Equus quagga selousi), located in Mozambique. Conservation Status: Critically Endangered

Description:

Compared to other zebra's the Plains Zebra is medium sized described as having a dumpy body with relatively short legs. The males are generally heavier and larger than the females and the males will also have thicker necks than the females. Their ears stand upright and have rounded tips.

Like all other zebra species these animals have black and white stripes that are unique to the individual animal, one of the main differences between this species and other species of zebra is that their stripes are slightly thicker than other zebra species. The stripes will be vertical towards the head but will slowly bend to be more horizontal towards the rear of the animal. The young of these animals will appear to have brown and white stripes instead of black and white, the brown stripes will darken into the more well known black colour as they age.

Diet:

Plains Zebras will feed primarily on a variety of different grass species, they are also known to browse for food or even dig for food during the dry season. Generally these animals will graze for long grasses and will rarely feed on plants below 100 – 150mm (3.9 – 6.9 inches) in height, their flexible upper lip allows them to push plant material closer to their teeth in order to cut the material before eating. This species of zebra have a larger range where they will feed, they are noted to go as far as woodlands and other well vegetated areas. Their digestive system is noted to being less efficient with their food passing quicker to other similar species, as a result these animals are less selective about what they eat but spend a lot more time eating.

Preferred grass species eaten by the Plains Zebra

• Kangaroo Grass also known as Red Grass, Red Oat Grass, and Rooigras (Themeda triandra)
• Bermuda Grass also known as Dhoob, Durva Grass, Ethena Grass, Dubo, Dog's Tooth Grass, Cough Grass, Indian Doab, Arugampul Grama, Wiregrass, and Scutch Grass (Cynodon dactylon)
• Species of perennial tufted grass in the family of Poaceae (Eragrostis superba)
• Buffel-grass also known as African Foxtail Grass, Dhaman Grass, Anjan Grass, Koluk Katai, and Buffelgrass (Cenchrus ciliaris)

Preferred plant species browsed by the Plains Zebra

• Mopane also known as Mopani, Balsam Tree, Butterfly Tree, and Turpentine Tree (Colophospermum mopane)
• Round-leaved Bloodwood (Colophospermum mopane)

During the dry season the Plains Zebra will also browse and dig around for Corms otherwise known as Bulbo-tubers or Bulbotubers. They will also search for Rhizomes in the same way during the dry season, these plants are also known as Creeping Rootstalks or just Rootstalks.

Behaviour:

Plains Zebra's communicate with one another through various facial expressions and calls, at least six different calls have been recorded for this species. The most distinctive calls these animals use are a high pitched contact call that is referred to as barking, these calls are described as "a-ha, a-ha, a-ha", "kwa-ha, kaw-ha, ha, ha", "kwahaah", or "oug-ga". When a predator is sighted these animals will let out a two-syllable alarm call, when retreating into cover from danger these Zebra's will let out a loud snort. When they are content they will let out a more drawn out snort, they emit high pitched squeals when injured and baby foals let out a drawn out wail when in distress. The two main facial expression involve the Zebra pulling their lips back whilst making a chewing motion, when they are greeting one another they will perform this action with their ears up, likewise if they are making a threat they will perform the same action but with their ears down.

Plains Zebra's are highly social animals that will congregate into social groups or harems, these groups will consist of a single dominant male with several females and their offspring. These social groups are will become permanent family units which form rather close bonds with one another, when the dominant male either leaves or dies the harem does not disperse but instead waits for another dominant male to join their group. Whether these groups will remain in one place or migrate regularly mostly depends on the size of the group itself, migratory groups can be seen in large concentrations consisting of several harem groups at once. Aggression is not usually observed in these groups as various rituals and behaviours are used to maintain the bonds with one another. Stallions will maintain a friendly attitude through ritual greetings, where they raise their ears and sniff the bodies of one another. Females within the same harem group mutual grooming is a common activity which is used to enhance the relationships between the other members of the same harem group. Mutual grooming is mostly observed between a mother and her young as well as between siblings. Whilst members of the same harem will get along well it is noted that females of one harem will generally not get along well with females of another harem, it has been noted females of different harems can be rather aggressive to one another. There is a social hierarchy within the harems and these are usually displayed through acts of grooming one another.

As mentioned before these animals use a harem or a polygynous mating system where a single dominant male will mate with multiple females. During mating season, males of this species will engage in a harsh competition with other males over mating rights for a female. It is noted there is some kind of "gentleman's agreement" for these animals which prevents stallions from attempting to lure away or mate with a female that has been "won over" by a stallion. These animals can breed at any time of the year however, females in East Africa will generally give birth between October and March during the rainy season, otherwise most other births usually occur in the month of January. The mother will be pregnant for about 360 – 396 days and will give birth to a single foal, they are born at a highly developed state and can start to walk and stand immediately after birth. They will take in grass on their own as early as 1 week after birth, the young will wean from their mothers milk at 7 – 11 months old but they may still drink their mothers milk for as long as 16 months. They become independent at around 1 – 3 years old, at this time they will disperse from the family group to find their own harem to join. They are sexually mature at the age of 16 – 22 months however, males will not actively try to mate until they reach 4 years old when they are mature and strong enough to defend their mating rights against other males.

Threats:

A number of animals prey on the Plains Zebra, the Lion (Panthera leo)is noted for being the most successful at this as they target lone individual such as an old male. Spotted Hyena's also known as Laughing Hyena's (Crocuta crocuta) also have some success in hunting these animals although they tend to chase and isolate females or foals from the group to hunt. Nile crocodiles (Crocodylus niloticus) tend to prey on these Zebras when they are near the water. When they need to run away from a threat an adult Zebra can reach speeds of up to 60 - 70kmh (37 – 43mph). Sometimes the Zebras will form a defencive formation in a semi-circle at around 50 – 100m (160 – 330 feet). The dominant male stallion will try to drive lions away with bluff charges, against smaller predators such as the African Painted Dogs also known as African Wild Dogs or African Hunting Dogs (Lycaon pictus) or hyena's the stallion will go on the offensive and attack them. In contrast Zebra's may approach African Painted Dogs or Cheetah's (Acinonyx jubatus) which also occasionally hunt Zebra's, a lone Hyena may be able to approach within a few meters (approximately 9.8 feet) of a Zebra's harem before they consider it a threat.

Currently this species is listed as a least concern species, there are concerns that their numbers may drop due to a number of localized factors including loss of habitat, hunting, and the competition of resources with livestock for grass and water. That said their numbers are rather stable so this animals future seems rather bright, that said at least one of the sub species of this animal has been noted as being extinct such as the Quagga (Equus quagga Quagga)

Further Reading (general information):

Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plains_z…

Kidadl: kidadl.com/animal-facts/plains…

Animalia: animalia.bio/plains-zebra