Zebra
- an animal of the Equidae family, order Perissodactyla, an unpaired hoofed mammal. In Africa there are several species of wild horses, distinguished by transverse dark stripes on a light background (they are sometimes distinguished in a special subgenus Hippotigris); the most famous among them are the quagga, the dau and the true zebra. The quagga (Equus quagga Gmel.) looks more like a horse than a donkey. On the neck (as on other species) stick out a short straight mane. The tail is more horse-like (with a shorter spica) than that of the other species. The overall color of the suit is brown, the legs, belly, and long tail hairs are white; the head, neck, and shoulders are gray, transverse stripes disappearing on the torso, with a dark band along the back. Dow, Burchellii or tiger horse (E. burchellii Gray) is distinguished by a large development of transverse stripes. The color of the body is dirty yellow above, white below; the head, neck, and entire torso are covered with black transverse stripes, which are absent, however, on the white legs. Narrower brown stripes stretch between the black ones. In Zebra (E. zebra L.) the stripes reach the greatest development. In body composition and tail, Zebra more resembles a donkey than a horse; long hairs are only at the very end of the tail. On a white or light yellow background, transverse stripes of bright black or red-brown color stretch from the end of the muzzle to the hooves; only the rear part of the belly and the inner side of the thighs are devoid of stripes. All three species are similar in size, with a length of up to 2.2 m and a tail length of 0.6 m and a shoulder height of 1.3 m. They are native to southern and eastern Africa. Africa, up to 5-10o N; they are not found in equatorial part of western Africa and Congo River area. Borders of distribution of some species are still insufficiently established. All named species live in small herds of 10 to 30 heads; sometimes, probably during large wanderings, they gather in huge herds of several hundred heads. Each species is kept apart from the other, but joins in with antelopes, gnu, ostriches, and even buffalo. Especially ostriches are their constant companions. All species of Zebra cautious, fearful and extremely frisky animals, and of predatory animals their enemy is only a lion. While dau and quagga prefer plains, Zebra keep mainly in mountainous areas. When desert steppes are burned out by drought, they migrate to populated areas and then harm the fields. The voice of all species differs both from that of a horse and that of a donkey. They tolerate captivity easily, but are difficult to tame. In captivity, Zebra and Quagga gave mixtures with donkeys and donkeys, and the bastards were in turn prolific (contrary to the general rule about infertility of bastards of different species).
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