Zebra

There are two species of Zebra in Southern Africa, the Plains or Burchell’s Zebra and the Mountain Zebra. As the names suggest they occur in vastly differing habitats, although they are known to occur together in places where plains and mountains overlap. A third species, the Grevy’s Zebra is found in East Africa.

Burchell’s Zebra

The Burchell’s Zebra is the most common across the African continent and has been classified into seven sub-species across its range. The extinct Quagga is a sub-species of the Plain’s Zebra and biologists are attempting to bring it back from extinction through a programme using the DNA of selected Zebra. The programme has been very successful with a number of Quagga-looking individuals roaming the plains again.

Find out more on the Burchell's Zebra

Mountain Zebra

As the name indicates Mountain Zebra are found in high lying areas of the Western and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa and the more arid mountainous regions of Namibia.

Smaller than the Burchell’s Zebra, Mountain Zebras are made up of two sub-species: Cape Mountain Zebra and the Hartmann’s Mountain Zebra

Interesting Zebra facts

No two Zebra have the same striping, as in fingerprints in humans the stripes of Zebra are unique to an individual

The Burchell’s Zebra is the national animal of Botswana and is found on the coat of arms of the country