The vast majority of Africa’s Hartmann’s mountain zebras are found in Namibia, and there are believed to be around 33,000 of them left in the wild. The Cape mountain zebras were very nearly extinct, with numbers recovering from 80 individuals in the 1950s to the estimated 4,790 individuals alive today, found mainly in the Mountain Zebra National Park. Both subspecies have a distinctive dewlap and bold strip patters that extend down the lower leg to the hoof but not around the middle of the belly.
The mountain zebra: There are two recognized subspecies of mountain zebra – the Cape mountain zebra and the Hartmann’s mountain zebra, both of which are listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Clockwise from top left: 1) Grévy’s zebra 2) Hartmann’s mountain zebras 3) plains zebras A Cape mountain zebra in Mountain Zebra National Park, South Africa There are three recognized species of zebra: the plains zebra ( Equus quagga), the mountain zebra ( Equus zebra) and the Grévy’s zebra ( Equus grevyi), all belonging to the Equus genus, along with horses, donkeys and asses. By the way, they are technically grey-skinned with black and white stripes. What follows is a celebration of one of the most unique, iconic and fascinating African animals.
And locally, guides have been heard referring to them as “stripy ponies, “horses in pyjamas” or, in the words of one safari guide in Tanzania, “disco donkeys”. The word “zebra” is borrowed from either Italian or Portuguese, where the first vowel is pronounced as a long vowel. With their dazzling black and white stripes and familiar horse body language, zebras are a firm favourite among safari-goers, especially when seen in their thousands during migratory events.Īs the dust settles on the first zebra sighting, someone is bound to ask “So, are they white with black stripes or black with white stripes?”, at which point their guide usually forces a laugh and thinks seriously about their father’s advice to pursue a financial career in a big city.
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