identifier	taxonID	type	CVterm	format	language	title	description	additionalInformationURL	UsageTerms	rights	Owner	contributor	creator	bibliographicCitation
03B0E520E8105865FE7EABE6E367FB6B.text	03B0E520E8105865FE7EABE6E367FB6B.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Equidae Gray 1821	<div><p>Family EQUIDAE (HORSES AND RELATIVES)</p><p>• [Large mammals with large head, elongated face, long neck, large ears, eyes set to the side and high on the head, long, slender legs ending in a single hoof each, long tail, and mane erect or droopy when very long.</p><p>• 200-300 cm.</p><p>• Palearctic and Afrotropical Regions.</p><p>• Mesic grassland to semi-arid savanna, arid lowland, and mountain desert.</p><p>• 1 genus, 7 species, at least 19 extant taxa.</p><p>• 2 species Critically Endangered, 2 species Endangered, 1 species Vulnerable; 4 subspecies Extinct since 1600.</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03B0E520E8105865FE7EABE6E367FB6B	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		Plazi	Don E. Wilson;Russell A. Mittermeier	Don E. Wilson, Russell A. Mittermeier (2011): Equidae. In: Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 2 Hoofed Mammals. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions: 106-143, ISBN: 978-84-96553-77-4, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5719778
03B0E520E8125867FFAAAB80EEA6F941.text	03B0E520E8125867FFAAAB80EEA6F941.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Equus przewalskii Poliakov 1881	<div><p>1.</p><p>Przewalski’s Horse</p><p>Equus przewalskii</p><p>French: Cheval de Przewalski / German: Przewalski-Pferd / Spanish: Caballo de Przewalski</p><p>Other common names: Asian Wild Horse, Dzungarian Horse, Mongolian Wild Horse, Takhi</p><p>Taxonomy. Equus przewalskii Poliakov, 1881,</p><p>Gutschen, Chinese—Russian border.</p><p>The taxonomy of Prezwalski’s Horse is problematic and unresolved. C. P. Groves proposed that all horses surviving into modern times belonged to one species, E. ferus, with three subspecies: E. f. ferus (the “Tarpan”), E. f. sylvestris at the eastern edge of Eastern Europe, and E. f. przewalskii of Western Asia. Although feral descendants of the domestic Horse ( E. caballus) roam freely in many locations around the world, Przewalski’s Horse is the only truly wild horse, although all its populations derive from reintroductions from zoos around the world. Analyses of nucleotide sequences on X and Y chromosomes place the two species in the same clade. Despite the fact that Prezwalski’s Horses have 66 chromosomes and domestic Horses have 64, introgression from interbreeding has occurred in the wild and in captivity. When coupled with the fact that Przewalski’s Horses have gone through a genetic bottleneck via captive breeding in zoos, the likelihood remains that it and the domestic Horse species today remain within the same clade. Monotypic.</p><p>Distribution. Limited to small populations that have been reintroduced to the Khustain Nuruu National Park, Takhin Tal and Khomin Tal Nature Reserves of Mongolia, and the Ka La Mai Li Shan Nature Reserve of China.</p><p>Descriptive notes. Head-body 220-280 cm,tail 99-111 cm (including hair), shoulder height 120-146 cm; weight 200-300 kg. Przewalski’s Horses are stockier than domestic Horses and have long tails, thick black erect manes that only fall to the side when very long, chestnuts on both hind and forelimbs, and large rounded hooves. Their coats are a uniform dusty or dun color on the body and flanks; the belly and face are yellowish-white, and there are traces of yellowish-white stripes just above the hooves. Przewalski’s Horses have a relatively small skull, with a long diastema, and a long, rounded occipital crest.</p><p>Habitat. The historic range of Przewalski’s Horse is not known. The last wild horse was seen in the very arid Dzungarian Gobi Desert in Mongolia, and there has been much debate about whether it was in its preferred habitat or justits last refuge. One view holds that of the three wild horse species that once inhabited the grasslands of Europe, Central Asia, and China, Przewalski’s Horse was the one that thrived at the easternmost edge of the range, where it encountered limited water and arid conditions as part of its natural habitat. Another view holds that these horses favored the more mesic grassland steppes of Mongolia, but as a result of more than a thousand years of competitive exclusion by nomadic pastoralists, they were forced into the deserts, where they fared poorly and died out. Domestic Horses do not fare well in dry climes, but ecological studies on feral horses show that some populations can survive in arid environments where food is scare and the best patches are often far from water. However, other studies show that populations survive and reproduce better in more mesic areas where vegetation is more abundant, more evenly distributed, and water is close to feeding areas. Grass and water are more plentiful in the mesic grasslands of Mongolia, but the winters there are harsher than in the Dzungarian Gobi. Today, populations of Przewalski’s Horses have been reintroduced into the mesic grasslands of central Mongolia as well as arid areas on the edge of the Gobi Desert and the Kalamaili Nature Reserve, which lies adjacent to the painted desert of China. Populations continue to survive in both xeric and mesic areas, although the population in China requires more active management than the ones in Mongolia.</p><p>Food and Feeding. Like feral horses, Przewalski’s Horses are grazers. They inhabit steppe vegetation, especially the grasslands and shrublands of Central Asia. In summer they consume high-quality forage near water. In the winter, however, they must subsist on more fibrous food that can be difficult to locate because of snow cover. Fortunately, strong winds often blow the snow away, making succulent vegetation available.</p><p>Breeding. Females come into estrus for the first time at two years of age, but usually do not breed until three. Males reach sexual maturity at three years old, but do not mate until 5-6 years of age, when they are able to dominate enough males so they can maintain long-term associations with mature females. As in domestic horses, females commence cycling in spring and continue cycling throughout the summer. Since gestation is 11-12 months (330-350 days), periods of breeding and birthing coincide.</p><p>Activity patterns. Przewalski’s Horses are active day and night, but generally sleep for four hours per day, mostly at night. In Mongolia, during the summer they are most active and move to streams and brooks to forage and drink. During the hottest times of the day they move up to ridge tops where cool breezes reduce attacks by biting flies. Przewalski’s Horses of the Khustain Nuruu National Park in Mongolia coexist with Gray Wolves (Canis lupus). Foals are at the highest risk, and when wolves are detected, females, both mothers and non-mothers, form a defensive circle around the foals. As long as three or more females are present, foal chances of survival are high.</p><p>Movements, Home range and Social organization. Przewalski’s Horses exhibit many of the same behaviors as feral horses. Females live in family groups that associate with a single breeding male. These harems move within large home ranges that overlap those of other family groups. Males unable to form long-term associations with females live in all-male bachelor groups whose membership is more fluid than that of family groups. Competition among males over mating access to females is common, yet ritualized signaling before escalating to physical violenceis the norm. Males typically mark the urine of females with their own urine and they repeatedly defecate in communal dung piles along well-traveled routes as a way of indicating and assessing how recently other males were present. Both sexes disperse from their natal groups upon reaching sexual maturity. As populations expanded at release sites, home ranges changed from virtually non-overlapping areas of 200-1100 ha to overlapping ranges averaging 1000 ha in size. Ranges tend to be larger in summer.</p><p>Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix I. Classified as Critically Endangered on The IUCN Red List. It was classified as Extinct in the Wild until 2008, but since then a series of reintroductions have created free ranging populations in both mesic and arid environments in Mongolia and China. It likely once roamed the steppes of China and Central Asia; there are written accounts from Tibet from around 900 Ap. Small groups of horses were reported through the 1940s and 1950s in Mongolia, but numbers appeared to decline dramatically after World War II. The last confirmed sighting in the wild was made in 1969 near a spring called Gun Tamga, north of the Takhin-Shara-Nuruu, in the Dzungarian Gobi. Since the late 1970s, matings of captive animals have been managed world-wide, with the goal of maintaining over 95% of the existing genetic diversity for the next 200 years. Preventing the rapid loss of genetic diversity has helped enhance the genetic potential of free ranging populations. In 2008 there were approximately 325 free-ranging reintroduced and native-born Przewalski’s Horses in Mongolia. All Przewalski’s Horses alive today are descended from only 13 or 14 individuals, which were the nucleus of a captive breeding program. In China, the Wild Horse Breeding Centre (WHBC) in Xinjiang has established a large captive population of approximately 123 Przewalski’s Horses. Since 2007 one harem group 1s roaming free on the Chinese side of the Dzungarian Gobi; another 60 horses are roaming free during summer time but all return to the acclimatization pen during the winter.</p><p>Bibliography. Ballou (1994), Berger (1986), Bokonyi (1974), Boyd &amp; Houpt (1994), Boyd et al. (2008), Dierendonck et al. (1996), Groves (1994), Rubenstein (1986a, 1986b), Ryder &amp; Chemnick (1990), Zimmerman &amp; Ryder (1995).</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03B0E520E8125867FFAAAB80EEA6F941	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		Plazi	Don E. Wilson;Russell A. Mittermeier	Don E. Wilson, Russell A. Mittermeier (2011): Equidae. In: Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 2 Hoofed Mammals. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions: 106-143, ISBN: 978-84-96553-77-4, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5719778
03B0E520E8125866FABEACFDEF26F67F.text	03B0E520E8125866FABEACFDEF26F67F.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Equus hemionus Pallas 1775	<div><p>2.</p><p>Asiatic Wild Ass</p><p>Equus hemionus</p><p>French: Hémione / German: Asiatischer Halbesel / Spanish: Onagro</p><p>Other common names: Onager; Gobi Kulan (luteus), Khur (khun, Kulan (kulan), Mongolian Kulan ( hemionus), Persian Onager ( onager), Syrian Onager ( hemippus)</p><p>Taxonomy. Equus hemionus Pallas, 1775,</p><p>North-eastern boundary of Mongolia with Russia, Transbaikalia, S. Chitinsk, 50° N, 115° E.</p><p>The “Syrian Onager ” race hemippus (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1855) from Syria and the Arabian Peninsula is extinct. The “Gobi Kulan” luteus is probably a synonym of the nominate race hemionus . Four extant subspecies recognized.</p><p>Subspecies and Distribution.</p><p>E. h. hemionusPallas, 1775 — SMongoliaandextendingintoNChina.</p><p>E. h. khurLesson, 1827 — LittleRannofKutch, Gujarat, India.</p><p>E. h. kulanGroves &amp; Mazak, 1967 — KazakhstanandTurkmenistan (Badkhyzregion).</p><p>E. h. onager Boddaert, 1785 — two reserves in Iran (Touran and Bahram-e-Goor), Israel (Negev Desert), and Saudi Arabia (Taif).</p><p>Descriptive notes. Head-body 200-250 cm, tail 30-49 cm, shoulder height 126— 130 cm; weight 200-260 kg. Asiatic Wild Asses are characterized by reddish-brown coats in the summer that become paler brown, sandy, or even gray in the winter, depending on subspecies. The flanks and belly are white and some subspecies have a dark brown stripe running along the back. The mane is black and erect and consists of short bristly hair. The tail is short, with a tuft of long hairs at the tip. The legs are short and thin when compared to other equid species. The hooves are broader and rounder than those of the African Wild Ass ( E. africanus) and are the most horse-like of all the asses. Males are slightly larger than females. The subspecies differ in skull morphology. The Transcaspian and Mongolian forms have narrower supraoccipital crests than the Iranian and Indian forms. The Asiatic Wild Ass can reach speeds up to 70 km /h.</p><p>Habitat. Asiatic Wild Asses live in xeric habitats where rainfall is limited. Many of the subspecies live in flat semi-deserts with extremely hot days and cool nights.</p><p>Food and Feeding. When grass is abundant, Asiatic Wild Asses are primarily grazers. During the dry season, or in the driest habitats, they will switch to browse, even consuming woody parts of plants. They also eat seedpods and will use their hooves to break apart woody material to reach succulent forbs. In Mongolia, asses often eat snow in the winter as a substitute for drinking water and have been known to dig holes 60 cm deep to reach water in the summer.</p><p>Breeding. Gestation in Asiatic Wild Asses is eleven months and breeding is highly seasonal. Births peak during April and September, depending on subspecies and location. Within any one population births occur within a 2-3 month period. Females reach puberty at three years of age and give birth to only one foal at a time. Foals generally stay with their mothers for two years.</p><p>Activity patterns. Asiatic Wild Asses are most active at dawn and dusk, when temperatures are cooler. Although they obtain most of their water from food, they are almost always seen within 30 km of water. Lactating females in particular need to drink frequently; at least once per day.</p><p>Movements, Home range and Social organization. The ranging and social behavior of Asiatic Wild Asses is highly variable. Many populations show seasonal movements. Male Asiatic Wild Asses in Israel return each spring to breeding areas several weeks before females, typically to claim territories held the previous year. The territories of dominant males are generally distributed around water points. Males unable to defend territories either form all-male bachelor groups or remain on the winter grazing grounds. Females coalesce into groups on the breeding grounds, but the groups are fluid. When populations contain many territorial males, some females move frequently among territories, suggesting that some of them move in search of mating opportunities as well as key resources. Others, especially those with young foals, remain on the territory of one male. Some subspecies, such as the “ Khur ” of India, exhibit the same types of social associations as do the Israeli Asiatic Wild Asses, but members of both sexes remain in one area year-round. Others, such as the “Kulan” of the Gobi, exhibit more horse-like social behavior, in which females and their offspring live in closed membership groups and travel to and from water with one male. Males in the Gobi population actively herd females if they stray too far, a behavior not seen in the Khur of the Little Rann of Kutch. Kulan males in the Gobi also defend females and their young from predators, suggesting that some interspecific variation in social organization is related to predation threat.</p><p>Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix I (subspecies hemionus and khur) and the rest listed in Appendix II. Classified as Endangered on The IUCN Red List. The Syrian Onager, went extinct in 1927. The largest population of Asiatic Wild Asses in the world is currently in southern Mongolia, and makes up almost 80% of the global population. The “Mongolian Kulan” population was estimated in 2003 at 18,411 + 898 in four areas. There are estimates of 4800-6000 Kulan in the Kalameili Reserve in China, but they may be a population migrating seasonally from Mongolia. The next largest subpopulation is the Indian Khur, estimated in 2004 at 3900, in the Little Rann of Kutch. Thisis the only subpopulation of the Asiatic Wild Ass that has steadily increased in size from 1976 to the present day. In 2005 the Kulan populations consisted of about 1300 animals in Turkmenistan (850-900 in Badkhyz Reserve and 445 in seven reintroduction sites). In 1991 the reintroduced population in Uzbekistan in Dzheiran Ecocentre numbered 34. There is limited information on the status of the “Persian Onager ” in Iran, but recent estimates give a figure of 600 in the two protected areas (471 animals in Touran National Park in 2000, 96 in Bahramgor Reserve in 1996, and four reintroduced animals in Yazd Province in 2000). There were also five reintroduced onagers in Taif (Saudi Arabia) in 2000, and a further 100 reintroduced animals in Israel in the same year. The global population of mature Asiatic Wild Asses has fallen in the last 16 years by 52%, the current estimate of mature individuals being 8358. Today in Iran, the Persian Onageris threatened by poaching, overgrazing by livestock, and by competition with livestock at watering points. Shrub removal also degrades the habitat. Khur are threatened by competition with livestock as well as other economic activity such as salt mining and canal building. Kulan have experienced rapid declines in numbers because of increased demand for bushmeat. The threat from pastoralists who complain that Kulan are reducing forage for livestock is increasing. Trophy hunting does not appear to be a problem.</p><p>Bibliography. Asa (2002), Feh, Munkhtuya et al. (2001), Feh, Shah et al. (2002), Goyal et al. (1999), Moehlman, Shah &amp; Feh (2008), Reading et al. (2001), Saltz &amp; Rubenstein (1995), Saltz et al. (2000).</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03B0E520E8125866FABEACFDEF26F67F	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		Plazi	Don E. Wilson;Russell A. Mittermeier	Don E. Wilson, Russell A. Mittermeier (2011): Equidae. In: Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 2 Hoofed Mammals. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions: 106-143, ISBN: 978-84-96553-77-4, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5719778
03B0E520E8135866FF1AA3CDEC6BF56D.text	03B0E520E8135866FF1AA3CDEC6BF56D.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Equus kiang Moorcroft 1841	<div><p>3.</p><p>Tibetan Wild Ass</p><p>Equus kiang</p><p>French: Kiang / German: Kiang / Spanish: Kiang</p><p>Other common names: Kiang; Eastern Kiang (holdereri), Southern Kiang (polyodon), Western Kiang ( kiang)</p><p>Taxonomy. Equus kiang Moorcroft, 1841,</p><p>Ladakh, state ofJammu and Kashmir, India.</p><p>Three subspecies recognized.</p><p>Subspecies and Distribution.</p><p>E. k. kiangMoorcroft, 1841 — WChina (SWXinjiang, C &amp; WXizang), NEPakistan (KhunjerabNationalPark), NIndia (Ladakh), andNNepal (Mustang).</p><p>E. k. holderersMatschie, 1911 — WCChina (SEXinjiang, Quinghai, Gansu &amp; EXizang). E. k. polyodon Hodgson, 1847 — SW China (S Xizang) and N India (N Sikkim); also possibly in extreme N &amp; NW Bhutan.</p><p>Descriptive notes. Head-body 182-214 cm, tail 32-45 cm, shoulder height 132-142 cm; weight 250-400 kg. Tibetan Wild Asses have large heads, thick muzzles, relatively long manes, and tails with long hairs not restricted to the tip. Their hooves are broad and rounded like the hooves of horses. Tibetan Wild Asses have dark chestnut-brown coats covering the upper flanks and thighs and white bellies, lower flanks, legs, and rump patches. The coat is paler in the winter and redder in the summer. The mane and the edges and tips of the ears are black. A dark brown dorsal stripe extends from the mane to the tail and each hoofis circled by a thin black ring. Chestnuts are found only on the forelegs. Males are slightly larger than females.</p><p>Habitat. The Tibetan Wild Ass is endemic to the Tibetan Plateau of Central Asia at elevations from 2700 m to 5300 m. It rangesas far south as the Himalayas and north to the Kunlun-Arjin Shan Mountains. Tibetan Wild Asses inhabit three major vegetation zones: alpine meadow, alpine steppe, and desert steppe. Alpine meadows are generally found at elevations below 4500 m in areas where precipitation exceeds 400 mm per year. Vegetation in these meadows starts growing earlier than in the other areas and short sedges, such as Kobresia, and forbs cover about 25-30% of the surface. Alpine steppe is the most abundant habitat on the Tibetan Plateau, occurring at elevations between 4000 m and 5000 m. Precipitation is low and vegetation is sparse, covering less than 15% of the ground, with Stipa, Festuca, and Poa being the most common grasses. Desert steppe occurs at elevations greater than 5000 m. Although the vegetation of the desert steppe is similar to that of the alpine steppe, only 5% of the ground is covered in vegetation. Not surprisingly, the Tibetan Wild Ass occupies mostly alpine meadows and steppe. Almost 80% of Tibetan Wild Ass sightings are in the basins in these habitats. Most of the other sightings are on the hills. Open plains seem to be used as refuges from predators.</p><p>Food and Feeding. Tibetan Wild Asses are grazers, mostly concentrating on Stipa, which comprises up to 656% ofits diet in summer and up to 95% in winter. Small amounts of forbs and shrubs are also consumed, and in winter, digging for roots is also common. Waterholes are scarce in the summer and often frozen in the winter, when snow is eaten instead. When the vegetation is of high quality, Tibetan Wild Asses acquire most of their water from vegetation.</p><p>Breeding. The mating season is late and short compared to other seasonally breeding equids, running from late July to the end of August. Gestation length appears to vary from eleven to twelve months. Females typically give birth to one foal every other year. Little is known about the age of sexual maturity in the wild, but it is likely that it is similar to the desert-living “Kulan” ( E. hemionus kulan), which begins breeding between three and four years of age. The age of maturity in males is even less certain. In captivity one male showed no signs of sexual activity by 3-5 years of age. In the wild, males occasionally injure newborn foals while attempting to mate with their mothers.</p><p>Activity patterns. Tibetan Wild Asses move seasonally among habitats. They disperse in small groups into the hills during the summer in search of high-quality food. As harsh winter conditions set in, they return to basins and flatlands at lower elevations, often forming large concentrations. In the summer, they move daily from lower areas where they spend the night to higher elevations as daytime temperatures rise.</p><p>Movements, Home range and Social organization. Tibetan Wild Asses are typically found alone or in small groups. Aggregations of several hundred individuals occur, but these seem to be seasonally driven. During the summer, individuals disperse and scatter, but during winter groups coalesce. Tibetan Wild Ass groups are not cohesive. The only strong bond is between mothers and their foals. Adults come together for short periods and then disperse. Tibetan Wild Asses show the same fission-fusion social system as Asiatic Wild Asses ( E. hemionus), African Wild Asses ( E. africanus), and Grevy’s Zebras ( E. grevyi). In this system lone males establish territories containing critical resources that females need. In the Ladakh region, territories are 0-5-5 km? in size. Young males unable to defend territories join all-male bachelor groups. Old males wander alone. Territorial males aggressively defend their territories. Ritualized displays involving a head-up, ears laid back, horizontaltail display are often accompanied by a wheezing bray. Long chases and contests involving rearing, kicking, and biting on the mane, neck, and tail occur when ritualized signals fail to determine dominance.</p><p>Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix II. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. Current global population of the Tibetan Wild Ass is estimated at 60,000 -70,000 individuals, 90% of them in China. This Chinese population of approximately 56,000 -68,500 individuals is divided between Qinghai and Gansu (15,000), Xinjiang (4500-5500), and Xizang (37,000 -48,000). The population outside China is estimated at 1600-2145. Within this wide range, Tibetan Wild Ass distribution is fragmented, and currently most populations are found in protected areas or areas which are under armyjurisdiction.</p><p>Bibliography. Feng Zuojian (1991a, 1991b), Fox et al. (1991), Goldstein &amp; Beall (1989), Groves &amp; Mazak (1967), Harris &amp; Miller (1995), Schaller (1998), Schaller &amp; Gu (1994), Shah (2002), Shah et al. (2008), St. Louis &amp; Coté (2009), Zhang Chieh (1984).</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03B0E520E8135866FF1AA3CDEC6BF56D	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		Plazi	Don E. Wilson;Russell A. Mittermeier	Don E. Wilson, Russell A. Mittermeier (2011): Equidae. In: Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 2 Hoofed Mammals. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions: 106-143, ISBN: 978-84-96553-77-4, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5719778
03B0E520E8135861FA63A123EFB2F480.text	03B0E520E8135861FA63A123EFB2F480.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Equus africanus Heuglin & Fitzinger 1866	<div><p>4.</p><p>African Wild Ass</p><p>Equus africanus</p><p>French: Ane sauvage / German: Afrikanischer Wildesel / Spanish: Asno salvaje</p><p>Other common names: Atlas Wild Ass (atlanticus), Nubian Wild Ass ( africanus), Somali Wild Ass (somalicus)</p><p>Taxonomy. Asinus africanus Heuglin &amp; Fitzinger, 1866,</p><p>Nubia. Restricted to Ain Saba, Eritrea, by Schlawe in 1980.</p><p>The “Atlas Wild Ass” race atlanticus (Thomas, 1884) from North Africa is extinct. Two extant subspecies recognized.</p><p>Subspecies and Distribution.</p><p>E. a. africanusHeuglin &amp; Fitzinger, 1866 — NEritrea (BarkaValley) andborderareabetweenEritreaandSudan; couldbeextinct.</p><p>E. a. somalicus Sclater, 1885 . — Eritrea (Denkelia region), NE &amp; E Ethiopia (Danakil Desert, Awash River Valley, and Ogaden), W Djibouti, and Somalia from the Meti and Erigavo in the N to Nugaal Valley and Shebelle River in the S.</p><p>Descriptive notes. Head-body 195-205 cm, tail 40-45 cm, shoulder height 115-125 cm; weight 270-280 kg. The African Wild Ass is the ancestor of the domestic Donkey ( E. asinus). It is strong, lean, and muscular, with a fawn or gray coat dorsally and a white belly and legs. It has long ears, a stiff erect mane,a tail ending with a tuft of black hair, and extremely narrow hooves that appear designed for surefootedness rather than speed. The “Nubian Wild Ass” is gray with a shoulder stripe; the “ Somali Wild Ass”is gray and has both leg and shoulder stripes.</p><p>Habitat. The African Wild Ass inhabits hilly and stony deserts as well as semi-desert grasslands and euphorbia and aloe shrublands that receive 100-200 mm of rainfall annually. Sandy habitats are avoided. Recorded up to 1500 m of elevation in Ethiopia.</p><p>Food and Feeding. The African Wild Ass mostly grazes, eating grasses, especially Eragrostis, Dactyloctenium, and Chrysopogon when available, and tougher Panicum and Lasiurus species, as well as herbs and general browse. The asses use their incisors and hooves to break apart the tougher foods. Although they can sustain water losses of up to 30% of their body weight, they can replenish these losses within two to five minutes. Nevertheless, they need to drink water at least once every three days and most individuals are observed within 30 km of a water source.</p><p>Breeding. Although the age of first estrus has not been documented in African Wild Asses, in feral asses, first estrus occurs at about twelve months of age. Most females, however, give birth at 2-2-5 years of age and give birth to one foal every other year thereafter. Females cycle every 20-21 days until they conceive and gestation ranges from 330 to 365 days. Foals are independent soon after birth, often remaining alone for long periods as mothers seek water to maintain lactation. Foals begin grazing within weeks of birth but typically suckle for six months. Males tolerate other males within their territories even when females are present; dominance ensures that mating access is controlled mostly by territory holders. Breeding occurs during the wet season, with most births between October and February. The life span of wild asses is thought to be around 25-30 years.</p><p>Activity patterns. The species is most active in the early morning, late afternoon, or at night, when the desert is cooler. During the hottest part of the day it seeks shade in nearby rocky hills whereit rests. Its body temperature can range from 35°C to 41-5°C, depending on ambient temperature. Females maintain higher body temperatures than males by sweating less, thus retaining water longer.</p><p>Movements, Home range and Social organization. African Wild Asses live in small groups that are typically composed of fewer than five individuals. Associations are usually temporary, with the only permanent one consisting of a mother and her young. Gatherings occur at watering places or when searching for scarce forage. Low food availability and poor-quality forage prevent females from feeding in close proximity and associating consistently. Temporary groups vary in composition, sometimes containing only members of a single sex, sometimes members of both sexes. Breeding males defend large territories with essential resources, especially water, that females need. Males associate with females who enter their territories, and the better the territory, the longer females will stay, thus increasing a territorial male’s reproductive success. When conditions on a territory are not yet attractive to females, territorial males are found alone or occasionally in bachelor male groups. Territories are often 20 km? in size, with boundaries marked by conspicuous dung piles. Females range more widely, readily moving among male territories.</p><p>Status and Conservation. CITES I. Classified as Critically Endangered on The IUCN Red List. Formerly, the African Wild Ass was distributed across large stretches of northern Africa, but now only occupies a small part ofits historic range. The Atlas Wild Ass occupied the north-west region of Algeria and adjacent parts of Morocco and Tunisia, becoming extinct around 300 ap. Threats to its survival come from hunting for food and body parts used in traditional healing, competition with livestock for food and water, and possible interbreeding and introgression from the domestic donkey. Fewer than 600 individuals of the Somali Wild Ass are thoughtto survive in the wild. Only Eritrea, where up to 400 individuals may survive,is thought to have a stable population. Fewer than 160 are believed to survive in Ethiopia, and fewer than ten in Somalia. The Nubian Wild Ass was present in the Nubian desert of north-eastern Sudan, from east of the Nile River to the Red Sea, south to the Atbara River and into northern Eritrea. However no sightings have been confirmed since the 1970s, and their survival in these regions is now in doubt.</p><p>Bibliography. Antonious (1938), Groves &amp; Willoughby (1981), Kingdon (1997), Maloiy (1970), McCort (1980), Moehlman (1998, 2002), Moehiman, Yohannes et al. (2008), Wilson &amp; Reeder (1993), Woodward (1979).</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03B0E520E8135861FA63A123EFB2F480	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		Plazi	Don E. Wilson;Russell A. Mittermeier	Don E. Wilson, Russell A. Mittermeier (2011): Equidae. In: Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 2 Hoofed Mammals. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions: 106-143, ISBN: 978-84-96553-77-4, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5719778
03B0E520E8145860FFB0A181E90EF9C9.text	03B0E520E8145860FFB0A181E90EF9C9.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Equus quagga Boddaert 1785	<div><p>5.</p><p>Plains Zebra</p><p>Equus quagga</p><p>French: Zebre de Burchell / German: Steppenzebra / Spanish: Cebra de Burchell</p><p>Other common names: Common Zebra, Painted Quagga; Burchell's Zebra (burchell), Chapman's Zebra (chapmanni), Crawshay's Zebra (crawshaii), Damara Zebra ( antiquorum), Grant's Zebra (boehmi), Quagga ( quagga), Zambezi Zebra (selousi)</p><p>Taxonomy. Equus quagga Boddaert, 1785,</p><p>South Africa, south of Vaal River.</p><p>Revisions have been made to the taxonomy of the Plains Zebra, whose extant species complex was until recently named E. burchelli, with the extinct form designated as a distinct species, the “ Quagga ” (FE. quagga), which occupied the former Cape Province, south of the Orange and Vaal rivers and west of the Drakensberg mountain range. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the ranges of Quaggas and “Burchell’s Zebra ” (E. q. burchelli) overlapped in a narrow zone north of the Orange River, unlike the other Plains Zebra subspecies whose ranges do not overlap, but they apparently did not interbreed. However, recent molecular analyses using both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA demonstrate that the variation among living and extinct forms is no greater than among modern breeds of domestic Horses (FE. caballus). Thus the Plains Zebra and the extinct Quagga are now considered a single species, E. quagga . The Plains Zebra shows a genetic and morphological cline from northern Kenya to southern Africa; generally, the farther south, the less the degree of stripe coverage, while body size increases. With the nominate subspecies’ demise, only six extant subspecies are recognized, located around three widely separated regional centres.</p><p>Subspecies and Distribution.</p><p>E. q. antiguorumC. H. Smith, 1841 — Angola, Namibia, andWBotswana.</p><p>E. q. boehmiMatschie, 1892 — ZambiaWofLuangwaRiver, DRCongo, NTanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, andSomalia.</p><p>E. q. burchelliGray, 1824 — CSouthAfrica.</p><p>E. q. chapmanniLayard, 1865 — NSouthAfrica, ZimbabweandEBotswana.</p><p>E. q. crawshaiDeWinton, 1896 — ZambiaEofLuangwaRiver, Malawi, SETanzania, andMozambique.</p><p>E. q. selousi Pocock, 1897 — E Zimbabwe and W Mozambique.</p><p>Descriptive notes. Head-body 217-246 cm, tail 47-57 cm, shoulder height 127-140 cm; weight 175-320 kg. The Plains Zebra is a muscular horse with a short neck, barrel chest, and sturdy legs. The stripes are variable, but in general they are wide, broader than those of Mountain Zebras (LE. zebra) and Grevy’s Zebras ( E. grevyi). Apart from Burchell’s and “Damara” Zebras,stripes cover the flanks and touch under the belly. Stripes on the rump are typically bold and wide in all subspecies except the Damara Zebra, where they are thin and often wavy. In Burchell’s and Damara Zebras, both southern African subspecies, there are often grayish shadow stripes in the center of the white stripes. In all subspecies, males are slightly larger than females and have stripes that are blacker than the browner ones of females.</p><p>Habitat. Plains Zebras inhabit tropical, subtropical, and temperate grasslands, steppes, savannas, and woodlands, from sea level to 4300 m on Mount Kenya. Since Plains Zebras need to drink daily, they are restricted to habitats where water can be accessed within half a day’s walk. Only deserts, dense woodlands, and permanent wetlands are avoided.</p><p>Food and Feeding. Plains Zebra are true grazers. As hindgut fermenters, they require large quantities of food, so it is not surprising that they spend up to 20 hours per day foraging. Yet they are selective foragers, disproportionately consuming Perisetum and Themeda grasses when available. They can only forage in mesic areas where feeding sites and watering points are close together.</p><p>Breeding. Plains Zebras give birth to one young after a gestation period of twelve months. Females generally stay near their groups when giving birth. When the foal is strong enough to move about, the mother and foal rejoin the group. Foals nurse for about six months, but begin feeding on grass by about one month of age. Females become sexually mature between two and three years of age, but often cycle without conceiving for the first year. Males generally only begin maintaining harems at five years of age.</p><p>Activity patterns. Plains Zebras are active day and night and organize their daily activities around drinking. Most individuals need to drink once per day, but in very dry conditions, some drink more often. During the dry season the need for water constrains Plains Zebra groups from wandering more than 5-10 km from reliable water. After the rains, they spread out and range widely, seeking superior grazing areas located near transient water sources.</p><p>Movements, Home range and Social organization. Because Plains Zebras are restricted to habitats where food and water are in close proximity, females of different reproductive classes can stay together. As a result, females, regardless of reproductive state, form groups and associate with a single male, who keeps away marauding males. By reducing sexual harassment, stallions provide females with a valuable material reward— increased foraging time. As in feral horses, females that associate with high-ranking males, or males rising rapidly in rank, can feed for up to six minutes longer per hour than females associating with less able males. Since Plains Zebras feed for up to 20 hours per day, females associating with the best males typically gain an additional two hours of foraging per day, thus increasing their fitness. Plains Zebra associations are often large, consisting of hundreds, if not thousands, of individuals. Since these herds include both harem and bachelor male groups, Plains Zebras live in the most complex societies of all equids. Herd size varies. It depends directly on the abundance of vegetation, but also on the strength of a social factor—the degree of cuckolding pressure exerted by bachelor males. When vegetation is abundant, groups tend to be large. But the largest herds form when bachelor groups are large. By banding together, breeding stallions amortize costs and collectively dominate large bachelor associations. For females, harassment reduction helps maximize foraging. Apparently females find life in herds no different from life in isolated and unchallenged harems, thus permitting herds to form. Many Plains Zebra populations are seasonally migratory, traveling hundreds of kilometers as they track vegetation flushes induced by predictable seasonal shifts in rainfall. Others stay put when the migrants leave, suggesting that these strategies are alternative solutions, shaped by trade-offs between vegetation quality and quantity. At any one locale, migratory or resident populations also exhibit local movements among landscape zones. During the rains, Plains Zebras graze on hilltops where vegetation productivity is high and good visibility increases safety from predators. When the rains cease and grasses stop growing, the zebras seek habitats where food is more abundant, because of dietary demands associated with their relatively large body size. They move to valleys and basins where grass is abundant, even though it is fibrous and of low quality. Their grazing transforms these habitats. Residual moisture and increased light penetration induces vegetation growth, which benefits the zebras as well as wildebeest (Connochaetes spp.) and Thompson's gazelles (Eudorcas spp.). As ruminants, these species require higher-quality vegetation than zebras. It is their good fortune that by the time they are forced to leave the hilltops, high-quality vegetation in the valleys is abundant enough to sustain them. Thus Plains Zebras play an important role as engineers stabilizing herbivore communities.</p><p>Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. In 2002, total numbers were estimated at ¢.660,000. More than 75% of the world’s Plains Zebras are “Grant’s Zebras” (boehmi), some 200,000 of them in the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem. The two countries they inhabit, Kenya and Tanzania, have extensive national park systems earning revenue from tourism, coupled with sophisticated government-supported monitoring systems. Wildlife-friendly ranching practices tend to protect even zebras living on private land in Kenya. Plains Zebras will probably not become threatened in these locales, but aerial survey data from Tanzania suggests a population decline of approximately 20% from the late 1990s to the mid-2000s. Elsewhere, Grant’s Zebras and the other subspecies are faring less well. Civil strife in many countries has led to widespread poaching. Continued habitat conversion to agriculture and loss due to development isolate and threaten the demographic and genetic integrity of small populations. In the past Plains Zebras have shown resilience and an ability to bounce back quickly from population reductions. With the establishment of effective management, protection, and monitoring, most Plains Zebra populations are likely to survive. Current information on total population size is limited.</p><p>Bibliography. Bell (1971), Bennett (1980), George &amp; Ryder (1986), Groves (1974), Hack &amp; Lorenzen (2008), Hack et al. (2202), Higuchi et al. (1984), Kgathi &amp; Kalikawe (1993), Kingdon (1979, 1997), Klingel (1969), Oakenful et al. (2000), Ogawa (1975), Rubenstein (1986a, 1986b, 1989, 1994), Rubenstein &amp; Hack (2004), Sinclair &amp; Norton-Griffiths (1982), Smuts (1975).</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03B0E520E8145860FFB0A181E90EF9C9	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		Plazi	Don E. Wilson;Russell A. Mittermeier	Don E. Wilson, Russell A. Mittermeier (2011): Equidae. In: Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 2 Hoofed Mammals. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions: 106-143, ISBN: 978-84-96553-77-4, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5719778
03B0E520E8155860FF1AAC47ECEDF4E7.text	03B0E520E8155860FF1AAC47ECEDF4E7.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Equus grevyi Oustalet 1882	<div><p>6.</p><p>Grevy’s Zebra</p><p>Equus grevyi</p><p>French: Zebre de Grévy / German: Grévy-Zebra / Spanish: Cebra de Grévy</p><p>Other common names: Imperial Zebra</p><p>Taxonomy. Equus grevyi Oustalet, 1882,</p><p>Ethiopia, Galla Country.</p><p>Grevy’s Zebra was described by French zoologist E. Oustalet and named after French President J. Grévy, who received the zebra as a gift from the Abyssinian government. Most DNA analyses agree that Grevy’s Zebra is in the same clade as the Plains Zebra ( E. quagga), and the Mountain Zebra (FE. zebra). Most studies also concur that the Mountain Zebra was the last species in the clade to evolve, but it remains unclear whether Grevy’s Zebra or the Plains Zebra appeared first, because there are so few nucleotide differences between them. The species differ in chromosome number, Grevy’s Zebras having 46 and Plains Zebras 44, but they are so close evolutionarily that fertile hybrids have appeared at the southern edge of the Grevy’s Zebra's range. Monotypic.</p><p>Distribution. Ethiopia and C &amp; N Kenya; perhaps also in S Sudan.</p><p>Descriptive notes. Head-body 250-275 cm, tail 38-75 cm, shoulder height 140-160 cm; weight 350-450 kg. Grevy’s Zebra is the largest of the equids, with a large head, long face, and elongated nostril openings. Its ears are large and round and can rotate independently in different directions. It has narrow stripes on its face, body, and rump; the stripes on the neck are slightly broader. The belly is white, as is the area around the base of the tail. Its muzzle is distinctively brown. It has an erect mane and the tail is tufted at the tip. Its hooves are large and rounded.</p><p>Habitat. Grevy’s Zebra inhabits semi-arid grasslands and thornbush scrublands typified by acacias and commiphoras. It does not need to drink daily and lives in habitats intermediate between the arid habitats of the true desert-dwelling African Wild Ass (FE. africanus), and the more water dependant Plains Zebra, which inhabits mesic tropical grasslands. Lactating females stay in the most open areas around water; non-lactating females and territorial males prefer grassy areas with light tree cover. Bachelor males grade into areas of medium or moderate bush, but overall, Grevy’s Zebras avoid densely wooded areas except during periods of extreme drought.</p><p>Food and Feeding. Grevy’s Zebras are predominantly grazers, but browse can account for up to 30% oftheir diet during drought or when foraging on landscapes degraded by livestock. They move through habitats quickly, taking many steps per bite, selectively choosing certain grass species over others. As a result, when grazing herds of Grevy’s and Plains Zebras form, the herds don’t persist for long, since Grevy’s Zebras simply pass through them. Availability of water and individual water requirements ultimately determine where Grevy’s Zebras can forage. Since non-lactating females can go without water for up to five days, they typically range far from water, seeking out previously well-watered areas with large quantities of vegetation. Lactating females, with their need to produce milk, must drink daily. Thus they remain near water, feeding on closely cropped grazing lawns that offer forage of high nutritive quality even if the amount of available food is limited.</p><p>Breeding. Grevy’s Zebras can breed year-round, but most births are timed to coincide with the arrival of the long rains that normally fall between April and June. Where Grevy’s Zebras reside, two rainy seasons are expected, since the intertropical convergence zone sweeps across the Equator twice per year. But often one or more of the rains fails. This severely limits the species’ ability to rebound after environmental or anthropogenic shocks. When females are in estrus they typically move through many male territories. Males only mate when on their own territories, and because females rarely stay with one male, Grevy’s Zebra males engage in post-copulatory sperm competition. Therefore, not surprisingly, they have larger testes than the other zebra species. To help ensure that they can mate with as many females as possible, when there are no females on their territories, territorial males wander widely in search of bachelor males and aggressively challenge them. By preemptively reinforcing dominance in low-risk settings, territorial males are able to devote more time to mating than to fighting when bachelors invade territories containing many females.</p><p>Activity patterns. Grevy’s Zebras are opportunists and move great distances in search of food and water. Females and their young, as well as bachelor males, have large home ranges, often moving with the rains to areas where grass is growing or abundant. Territorial males tend to linger on their territories until well after all other zebras have left and only depart when conditions have deteriorated dramatically. During normal dry seasons, when all Grevy’s Zebras are dependent on water, concentrations of males and females develop. Given that Grevy’s Zebras often move 35 km per day if food and water are widely separated, aggregations tend to split apart and are never very large. Sightings of a few hundred Grevy’s Zebras at a time are rare. Although the availability of food and water determine most movements, predation plays a role. Grevy’s Zebras avoid human settlements during the day because of stresses associated with human activity, but at night settlements are sought as refuges against predators.</p><p>Movements, Home range and Social organization. Grevy’s Zebras differ socially from the other two species of zebras; they do notlive in closed-membership family groups, or harems. Like the asses, Grevy’s Zebras live in open-membership groups in which the only long-lasting bond is between mothers and their young. Adult females come together at water sources and good grazing sites and continue to travel together as long as their needs can be satisfied. When they cannot, such as when lactating females need to return daily to water and those without young or with older young do not, then the social ties that bind females become severed and groups dissolve. Given that both types of females are sexually active, and males cannot simultaneously associate with both, dominant males instead establish territories adjacent to water. In this way high-status males have mating access to both lactating and non-lactating females whenever they come to water. Less dominant males also establish territories, but in areas of abundant vegetation far from water, where they gain access to the subset of females searching for quality foraging areas. Territories can be as large as 10 km?, the largest of any equid. Males of the lowest rank are unable to maintain territories, so they join bachelor groups. They range widely, grow quickly, and by interacting with many males they improve their fighting ability.</p><p>Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix I. Classified as Endangered on The IUCN Red List. Grevy’s Zebras exist only in the Horn of Africa. According to recent surveys, an estimated 2000-2300 live in Kenya, around 150 in Ethiopia, and there may be a few in southern Sudan. Historically Grevy’s Zebras ranged more widely, from Somalia to western Ethiopia, Djbouti, and Eritrea, and from southern Ethiopia south tojust north and west of Mount Kenya. Extensive hunting ceased at the start of the 1980s, yet populations of Grevy’s Zebras did not rebound. They are still decreasing and from 1988 to 2007, the global population declined approximately 55%. Increasing competition with the livestock of pastoral herders for water and forage appears to be the culprit. As human populations and their herds grew, water disappeared more quickly than in the past. In addition, the presence of humans and livestock prevented the zebras from accessing drinking sites during the day. Constrained lactation, in addition to greater predation risks associated with night-time drinking, reduced infant and juvenile survival. Since less than 5% of Grevy’s Zebra’s current range is located within protected areas, the best hope for enhancing population growth involves encouraging communities to better manage rangelands, as well as increasing the value of Grevy’s Zebras by training community members to become scouts or ambassadors and hiring them to help monitor Grevy’s Zebra population dynamics and harmful human impacts.</p><p>Bibliography. Cordingley et al. (2009), Ginsberg &amp; Rubenstein (1990), Groves (2002), Kingdon (1997), Klingel (1974), Low et al. (2009), Moehlman, Rubenstein &amp; Kebede (2008), Rowen &amp; Ginsberg (1992), Rubenstein (1986a, 1986b, 1994), Sundaresan et al. (2008).</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03B0E520E8155860FF1AAC47ECEDF4E7	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		Plazi	Don E. Wilson;Russell A. Mittermeier	Don E. Wilson, Russell A. Mittermeier (2011): Equidae. In: Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 2 Hoofed Mammals. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions: 106-143, ISBN: 978-84-96553-77-4, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5719778
03B0E520E8155863FA60A155ED43F996.text	03B0E520E8155863FA60A155ED43F996.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Equus zebra Linnaeus 1758	<div><p>7.</p><p>Mountain Zebra</p><p>Equus zebra</p><p>French: Zebre de montagne / German: Bergzebra / Spanish: Cebra de montana</p><p>Other common names: Cape Mountain Zebra ( zebra), Hartmann's Mountain Zebra ( hartmannae)</p><p>Taxonomy. Equus zebra Linnaeus, 1758,</p><p>South Africa, south-western Cape Province.</p><p>Two subspecies recognized.</p><p>Subspecies and Distribution.</p><p>E. z. zebraLinnaeus, 1758 — SSouthAfrica (S &amp; WedgeofthecentralplateauintheEasternandWesternCapeProvinces).</p><p>E. z. hartmannae Matschie, 1898 — W Namibia (mountainous transition zone between the Namib Desert and the Namibian central plateau); possibly in SW Angola.</p><p>Descriptive notes. Head-body 210-260 cm, tail 40-55 cm, shoulder height 115-150 cm; weight 240-380 kg. The Mountain Zebra can be distinguished from other zebra species by the dewlap under its neck. The pattern of striping is also intermediate between the other two species. The stripes are half as wide as and more numerous than those of Plains Zebras (FE. quagga) and the belly is white as in Grevy’s Zebras (FE. grevyi). Mountain Zebras have a “waffle-iron” pattern on the rump near the root of the tail. On the rump, the narrow stripes change to broad and bold stripes, more like those of “Grant’s Zebra ” (E. boehmi). The “ Cape Mountain Zebra ” is smaller than “Hartmann’s Mountain Zebra ” and it has slightly wider stripes.</p><p>Habitat. As its name implies, the Mountain Zebra inhabits slopes and plateaus in mountainous areas. Cape Mountain Zebras are found up to 2000 m in the summer. Hartmann’s Mountain Zebras sometimes are found on salt flats. In the recent past they were commonly found in the bushy karoo upland shrub where summer droughts were compensated for by night-time dew and mist.</p><p>Food and Feeding. Mountain Zebras eat mostly grass, although browse in the form of leaves and bark is occasionally consumed. Mountain Zebras generally drink twice per day.</p><p>Breeding. Births occur throughout the year, with peaks in December—January for Cape Mountain Zebras and in November—April for Hartmann’s Mountain Zebras. Females give birth to a single young every 1-3 years, after a gestation period of approximately one year. The young are weaned at around ten months and leave the natal group at 1-3 years of age. Males are capable of establishing and holding a harem at 5-6 years.</p><p>Activity patterns. Mountain Zebras are most active in the morning and in the late afternoon until sunset. They remain inactive during the middle of the day and seek shelter from the heat when possible. Individuals feed for more than half the daylight hours. Hartmann’s Mountain Zebras have a grazing area of 6-20 km* during winter and considerably smaller areas in the summer. Their home ranges are thought to be around 3-16 km?*.</p><p>Movements, Home range and Social organization. Mountain Zebras generally live in small permanent membership groups with overlapping home ranges. Most groups contain a single stallion and 1-5 mares with their young. Sometimes groups join to form temporary herds of 30 or more individuals. Stallions can maintain haremsfor more than 15 years, but they are usually driven out by younger males before then. Bachelor groups are composed of both young males and old stallions that have lost their groups. There is a strict hierarchy amongst males in bachelor groups, and between females in breeding groups.</p><p>Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix I ( zebra) and Appendix II ( hartmannae). Classified as Vulnerable on The IUCN Red List. Historically, Mountain Zebras ranged from southern South Africa through Namibia to extreme south-western Angola. Habitat conversion to agriculture, competition with domestic livestock, hunting, and persecution are the main threats facing Mountain Zebras. Crossbreeding between the two subspecies is considered a potential threat in South Africa, where both subspecies occur,since this would mix and disrupt the genetic diversity of the species. Crossbreeding with Plains Zebras is also a potential threat just asit is for Grevy’s Zebras. Cape Mountain Zebras suffered devastating declines because of trophy hunting and land conversion to agriculture in South Africa during the 19" and early 20™ centuries. By the 1930s they were on the brink of extinction—a 1937 census countedjust 45 individuals. Since the establishment of national parks in the locations where the few surviving individuals remained, the population has increased to around 1400. Cape Mountain Zebras now live in 17 provincial nature reserves and national parks, the largest being the Addo Elephant and the Cape Peninsula National Parks. Hartmann’s Mountain Zebra also suffered massive population declines during the 1950s and 1960s, primarily due to persecution from an expanding livestock industry. Hartmann’s Mountain Zebras continue to come into conflict with livestock farmers, particularly during drought years when resources are in short supply. Hartmann’s Mountain Zebra is a protected species in Namibia and any use requires permits. The Namibian Ministry of Environment and Tourism therefore has encouraged the commercial use of Mountain Zebras to provide an incentive for promoting tolerance. Numbers are increasing on communal land and overall numbers are in the range of 30,000. Today, populations are isolated, inhabiting the Mkambati and Goegap Provincial Nature Reserves, Amaqwati Tribal Resource Area, and Richtersveld National Park. The animals are also present on numerous private estates in the Northern and Eastern Cape Provinces of South Africa, as well as in fenced, protected areas, and game farms in Namibia.</p><p>Bibliography. Kingdon (1997), Lloyd (1984), Millar (1970a, 1970b), Novellie (2008), Novellie et al (2002), Penzhorn (1975).</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03B0E520E8155863FA60A155ED43F996	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		Plazi	Don E. Wilson;Russell A. Mittermeier	Don E. Wilson, Russell A. Mittermeier (2011): Equidae. In: Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 2 Hoofed Mammals. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions: 106-143, ISBN: 978-84-96553-77-4, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5719778
