Facts
Common Name: zebra
Class: Mammalia
Order: Perissodactyla
Family: Equidae
Genus species: Equus (horse) grevyi
Size: 1.25 to1.5 m (4-5 ft.) at withers
Weight: range between 350 to 430 kg (780-950 lb.)
Description: dark brown stripes on the body are narrow, positioned close together, and do not cover the belly which is white. Mane is tall and erect, unlike a horse's; ears are large and donkey like with thick fur inside.
Life span: 20 to 25 years in the wild, 25 to 30 years in captivity
Sexual maturity: female at 2 years; male at 6 years
Gestation: 380 to 390 days; foals nurse for 6 to 13 months
Habitat semi-arid scrub and grasslands of Africa, specifically Kenya and Ethiopia
Diet: variety of grasses
Status: listed by USFWS as threatened; protected by CITES
Fun
1. Grevy's zebras are unusual because they do not form long lasting bonds like the plains zebras and horses. Their group composition may change on an hourly basis.
2. Within an hour after it is born, a foal can run with the rest of the herd and can recognize its mother with smell and sight.
3. Stripes may cause confusion by making it hard for a predator to single out an individual.
4. Each zebra has a unique stripe pattern, like a person's fingerprint.
Ecology and Conservation
The major threats to the Grevy's zebra are introduced livestock that compete for
grazing land and hunting for zebra skins. Zebras are beneficial to other wild grazers
because they clear off the tops of coarse grasses that are difficult for other herbivores
to digest. Also, zebras eat course grasses that grow on marginal lands where cattle do not
do well.
