Did you know that each zebra has its own personal striping pattern? Isn't that so cool. This makes identification easier for researchers. Zebras live throughout eastern and southern Africa, (Kenya, Somalia, and eastern Ethiopia.) Their home ranges vary in size but can be as large as 12,240 square miles. Zebras live in open, grassy plains, well-grassed woodlands and can be found on mountain slopes. Grevy's zebras feed on a variety of grasses, along with twigs, bark, leaves, and fruit. They mostly depend on grass; their diet requires a high volume. That is in the wild, but zoo keepers feed them pelleted feed, grass hay, and sliced carrots for treats.

Grevy's zebra has adapted to its desert-like climate and can survive many days without eating or drinking. Danger is pretty much everywhere zebras go, even in the water. Their predators include hyenas, lions, cheetahs, and crocodiles (a hungry crocodile will even eat a zebra!) Gestation lasts about 12-13 months for a zebra, after which only one foal is born. Mares reach sexual maturity in 2-4 years. Most foals are born between May and August. Having twins is rare. At birth a foal weighs about 70 pounds. A young foal can walk about an hour after birth, run within a day and can graze within a couple of weeks. The juvenile mortality is about 50%, mostly due to predation by lions and hyenas.

Many years ago, there was a great increase in poaching, mainly in northern Kenya. There was a great demand for the skin of the Grevy's zebra for the manufacture of handbags, purses, slippers, rugs and even clothing. The result of this came out to be a sudden decline of the species. Since then, Kenya banned all hunting and the export of zebra skin products. Most of the poaching has also stopped.

Did you know that Grevy's zebra are the largest zebras? They have narrow, closely-set eyes, a white belly, large head, long legs, and large round ears. The average height of an adult zebra is 4.5-5 feet at the shoulder and the average weight is about 900 pounds. Their approximate life span is 20-30 years. The Grevy's zebra is different from all other zebras in its primitive characteristics. With their long, narrow, thinner, and closer together stripes it is easier for them to escape and to hide from their predators.

This particular group of zebras that I am doing research on is currently an endangered mammal. The Grevy's Zebra is in the kingdom Animalia, phylum Chordata, class: Mammalia, order: Perissodactyla, family: Equidaw, genus: Equus, and species: Equus grevyu. Also the Grevy's zebra is one of the only six surviving species in the Equidae family. Zebras have very good eye sight during both night and day. They have binocular vision and can most likely see in color. They also have great hearing that can detect distant sounds.

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Author: Jazmin E.
Published: April 2006

Sources:

http://www.thebigzoo.com/Animals/Grevys_Zebra.asp Young Peoples Trust for the Environment http://www.yptenc.org.uk/docs/factsheets/animal_facts/grevys_zebra.html Sedgwick County Zoo http://www.scz.org/animals/z/zebra.html International Museum of the Horse http://www.imh.org/imh/bw/zebra.html The Wildlife Conservation Society http://kidsgowild.com/kidsgowild/animalfacts/88075/88240 www-unix.mcs.anl.gov/.../MiscImages/zebra.jpg Cyber Volunteer: Richard Lupinsky Jr. , Tanzania http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/cybervol/2004-5/Lupinsky_photos.htm