Burchell's zebra

Burchell's zebra

Etosha National Park, Namibia One or two shadow stripes rest between the bold, broad stripes on the haunch, a feature unique to the Damara zebra.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Perissodactyla
Family:	Equidae
Genus:	Equus
Subgenus:	Hippotigris
Species:	E. quagga
Subspecies:	E. q. burchellii
Trinomial name
*Equus quagga burchellii* Gray, 1824
Synonyms
Equus quagga antiquorum

Burchell's zebra (Equus quagga burchellii) is a southern subspecies of the plains zebra. It is named after the British explorer and naturalist William John Burchell. Common names include bontequagga, Burchell's zebra, Damara zebra, and Zululand zebra (Gray, 1824).^[1] Burchell's zebra is the only subspecies of zebra which may be legally farmed for human consumption in the UK.^[2]

Physical characteristics

Like most plains zebras, females and males are relatively the same size. Year-round reproduction observed in this subspecies in Etosha National Park, Namibia, concludes synchronization of a time budget between males and females, possibly explaining the lack of sexual dimorphism.^[3]

Damara zebras are described as being striped on the head, the neck, and the flanks, and sparsely down the upper segments of the limbs then fading to white.^[4] One or two shadow stripes rest between the bold, broad stripes on the haunch.^[4] This main, distinguishing characteristic sets the Zuzuland Zebra apart from the other subspecies. Gray (1824), observed a distinct dorsal line, the tail only bristly at the end, and the body distinctly white.^[1] The dorsal line is narrow and becomes gradually broader in the hinder part, distinctly margined with white on each side.^[1]

Range and adaptation

Formerly, the Burchell's zebra range was centered north of the Vaal/Orange river system, extending northwest via southern Botswana to Etosha and the Kaokoveld, and southeast to Swaziland and KwaZulu-Natal. Now extinct in the middle portion, it survives at the northwestern and southeastern ends of the distribution.^[4]

Burchell's zebra migrates the longest distance of any terrestrial animal in Africa, traveling 160 miles one way.^[5] They migrate from the Chobe River in Namibia to Nxai Pan National Park in Botswana.^[5] Their migration follows a straight north–south route almost entirely within the Kavango–Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area^[5] (KAZA).

Extinct subpopulation

Specimens from the extinct population, 1886.

Like other plains zebras, Burchell's zebras must have populated the African plains in impressive numbers. Associations of thousands have been reported. The wild herds were thought to have disappeared by 1910, and the last known captive individual died in the Berlin Zoo in 1918. As European settlement spread northward from the Cape to colonial southern Rhodesia, this subspecies was thought to have been hunted to extinction.

However, Groves and Bell concluded in their 2004 publication that "the extinct true Burchell's zebra" is a phantom.^[6] Careful study of the original zebra populations in Zululand and Swaziland, and of skins harvested on game farms in Zululand and Natal, has revealed that a certain small proportion shows similarity to what now is regarded as typical burchellii. The type localities of the subspecies Equus quagga burchellii and Equus quagga antiquorum (Damara zebra) are so close to each other that they suggest that the two are in fact one, and therefore the older of the two names should take precedence over the younger. They therefore say that the correct name for the southernmost subspecies must be burchellii not antiquorum.^[6] The subspecies Equus quagga burchellii still exists in KwaZulu-Natal and in Etosha. Equus quagga burchellii can be found in a number of zoos in the United States including the following: the Cincinnati Zoo, Columbus Zoo, Naples Zoo, Nashville Zoo, Oregon Zoo, Woodland Park Zoo, etc., and a small herd of about 75-100 animals is still extant, and free ranging, on the Hearst Ranch in San Simeon, California, USA.

References

1 2 3 Gray, J. E. (1824). "A Revision of the Family Equidae". Zoological Journal 1 (2): 241-248. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
↑ Powell, Emma (23 July 2014). "Zebra meat: Exotic and lean – but does it taste good?". Independent Digital News and Media Ltd. The Independent. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
↑ Neuhaus, P; Ruckstuhl, K. E. (2002). "The link between sexual dimorphism, activity budgets, and group cohesion: the case of the plains zebra (Equus burchelli)". Canadian Journal of Zoology 80 (8): 1437–1441. doi:10.1139/z02-126. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
1 2 3 Groves, Colin; Grubb, Peter (2011). Ungulate Taxonomy. JHU Press. pp. 13–17. ISBN 978-1-4214-0093-8. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
1 2 3 "Burchell's zebras undertake 300-mile migration, longest in Africa". UPI.
1 2 Groves, C. P.; Bell, H. B. (2004). "New investigations on the taxonomy of the zebras genus Equus, subgenus Hippotigris". Mammalian Biology 69: 182–196. doi:10.1078/1616-5047-00133.

Sources

Duncan, P. (ed.). 1992. Zebras, Asses, and Horses: An Action Plan for the Conservation of Wild Equids. IUCN/SSC Equid Specialist Group. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.
Maas, P. 2005. "Burchell's Zebra – Equus quagga burchellii". The Extinction Website. Downloaded on 21 January 2006.
Moehlman, P.D. 2002. Equids. Zebras, Assess and Horses. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. IUCN/SSC Equid Specialist Group. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland

External links

Data related to Equus quagga burchellii at Wikispecies

Species of the genus Equus

Extinct species are marked †

Asses	Equus africanus Equus africanus africanus Equus africanus asinus †Equus africanus atlanticus Equus africanus somaliensis Equus hemionus Equus hemionus hemionus †Equus hemionus hemippus Equus hemionus khur Equus hemionus kulan Equus hemionus luteus Equus hemionus onager †Equus hydruntinus Equus kiang Equus kiang chu Equus kiang holdereri Equus kiang kiang Equus kiang polyodon

Zebras	Equus grevyi Equus quagga Equus quagga burchellii Equus quagga boehmi Equus quagga borensis Equus quagga chapmani Equus quagga crawshayi Equus quagga selousi †Equus quagga quagga †Equus stenonis †Equus simplicidens Equus zebra Equus zebra hartmannae Equus zebra zebra

Horses	†Equus complicatus †Equus conversidens †Equus crinidens †Equus cumminsii †Equus excelsus Equus ferus Equus ferus caballus †Equus ferus ferus Equus ferus przewalskii †Equus francisci †Equus fraternus †Equus giganteus †Equus lambei †Equus namadicus †Equus niobrarensis †Equus occidentalis †Equus pacificus †Equus parastylidens †Equus pectinatus †Equus scotti †Equus sivalensis †Equus yunnanensis

Equidae Evolution of the horse Wild horse Domestication of the horse

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