Plains zebra (Equus quagga)

One lovely morning guides and trackers were on a road clearing and branch-trimming exercise. In unison we observed a stallion zebra that had a fresh and bleeding wound on his rump. We started having discussions as to what could have caused the damage to the skin, and we all agreed that it was a lion attack. It did not take long before we saw another small herd of zebra that had another stallion that had previously been attacked by lions. His wounds had healed but his stripes did not match up. The same stallion also had a collapsed ear.

At Singita Pamushana we have the plains zebra. They are characterised by having shadow stripes, which are a lighter brown or ‘dirty’ stripes in between the solid black and white stripes. The stripes continue down to the hooves. The plains zebra is common in savanna woodland and grassland, often associated with blue wildebeest and other grazers.

The high-pitched “Kwa-ha” alarm call of the plains zebra is synonymous with the African bush and that’s the origin of the scientific name quagga. Zebra always looks fully fed or pregnant. This is due to the way they digest their food through fermentation in one large stomach, which results in gas build-up. This causes flatulence when they are fleeing from danger.