We recommend the following Web sites for those interested in subjects presented on the program. All links are valid as of August 23, 2001.

ZebraMania
http://www.homestead.com/NileMusings/ZebraMania.html
Tons of links and information from a zebra fanatic.

Zebra Home Page
http://www.imh.org/imh/bw/zebra.html
Evolutionary history and more from the International Museum of the Horse.

Herds of Information About Zebras
http://www.alumni.caltech.edu/~kantner/zebras/
Just what the name suggests, from zebrologist Michael Kantner.

The Quagga Project
http://www.museums.org.za/sam/quagga/quagga.htm
Learn about the South African Museum’s effort to bring back this unusual zebra.

Grevy’s Zebra
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/equus/e._grevyi$narrative.html
Species information from the University of Michigan.

Print Resources

For those interested in the subjects shown in HORSE TIGERS, we recommend the following books.

Grimbly, Shona. ZEBRAS. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 1999.

Joyce, Peter. FROM AARDVARK TO ZEBRA: SECRETS OF AFRICAN WILDLIFE. New York: New Holland, 2000.

Olsen, Sandra L. HORSES THROUGH TIME. Niwot, CO: Roberts Rinehart Publishers, 1998.

Schaefer, Lola. ZEBRAS: STRIPED GRASS-GRAZERS. New York: Bridgestone Books, 2001.

Skinner, J.D. and R.H.N. Smithers. THE MAMMALS OF THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN SUBREGION. Pretoria, South Africa: University of Pretoria Press, 1990.

Swinburne, Stephen. LOTS AND LOTS OF ZEBRA STRIPES: PATTERNS IN NATURE. Portland, OR: Boyds Mills Press, 1998.

The zebra’s eye-catching coat has long made the exotic horse a favorite of photographers and merry-go-round makers. But that animal is also becoming a favorite of some ranchers — and even horseback riders looking for a sportier mount.

Audren Garrett, of Garrett’s Exotic Animal Ranch near Springfield, Missouri, is just one U.S. rancher who raises zebras. He has about 60 Grant’s zebras, a variety of Plains zebra, on his 300-acre spread.

Garrett’s herd, which he started in the early 1970s, often causes motorists on a nearby highway “to stop out front and take pictures,” he says. But despite their noteworthy looks, he says raising zebras is little different from breeding horses. “They are very easy to raise; I don’t see anything hard about it,” he says. In winter, the zebras eat hay and even take shelter in a barn, just like horses. Some of his customers even ride the animals. “They treat them just like horses,” he says, putting a regular saddle on their backs.

Other breeders raise zebras for different reasons. Some breed endangered Grevy’s zebras for zoos, or raise and train animals for circuses. A few experiment with crossbreeding zebras with other animals, in search of sturdy, good-looking livestock that might appeal to buyers. The “Zebdonk,” for instance, is a cross between a Burchell’s zebra and a donkey.

For the moment, however, Garrett isn’t planning any such experiments with his herd. It will continue to surprise drivers as they roll through the green Missouri hills, who may wonder whether they somehow took a wrong exit marked “Africa.”

In 1883, biologists believed the world had lost one of its zebra species. The last known Quagga, an unusual brownish, partly striped zebra, died in the Amsterdam Zoo. Hunters had already exterminated its wild cousins, sought for their striking hides and because ranchers believed they competed with livestock for grasses.

Now, more than 100 years later, researchers in South Africa are on the verge of bringing the Quagga — or at least a modern version of it — back to life.

The restoration effort is the brainchild of Reinhold Rau, a taxidermist and wildlife enthusiast committed to seeing the Quagga back on its native range. His restoration hopes got a boost in the 1990s, when genetic scientists used tissue samples from an old Quagga hide to show that the animal was simply one variety of Plains zebra, not a separate species. The study suggested that Rau and his supporters could use modern Plains zebras, like those featured in NATURE’s Horse Tigers, in a careful breeding program to recreate the Quagga.

After years of work, the selection effort appears to be paying off. Over the last few years, The Quagga Project has produced scores of zebras with unusual, Quagga-like markings, some of which have been released into parks and preserves.

The project does have its critics, who say there is no guarantee that the modern Quaggas replicate the habits or behaviors of the extinct variety. But Quagga Project backers are upbeat. There is no evidence, they note, that Quaggas behaved substantially differently from other Plains zebras. And since the grasses that Quaggas ate are still in existence, project officials say there is “no reason to believe that animals produced in the selective breeding program would not survive successfully in the region formerly occupied by the Quagga.”

When it comes to zebras, it’s not all black and white. These spirited, striped African horses have rich, complex lives, as NATURE’s Horse Tigers shows.

There are actually three kinds of zebras that wander Africa’s grasslands and forests. By far the best known and most common is the Plains zebra, the stocky little grazer often seen milling amidst the herds of wildebeest and giraffes in many a wildlife film. Less known and rarer are the Grevy’s and Mountain zebras, which despite similar striping live very different lives.

Plains zebras, for instance, live in highly organized social groups, with a stallion overseeing a small group of mares and their foals. As Horse Tigers documents, the stallions forge remarkably close ties with other males, routinely greeting each other with elaborate, rubber-necked embraces and toothy nips. The mares, in turn, forge their own alliances, staying together even if their stallion dies and is replaced by another. The whole group moves together, often migrating across vast stretches to find greener grass and water. The oldest females appear to lead the way, probably because they have the best memory of where to find the best pickings. Herds of 100,000 or more Plains zebras — which are found across much of Africa south of the Sahara desert — may migrate together, creating a remarkable natural spectacle. In contrast, Grevy’s zebras live more solitary lives in the drier climates of eastern Africa. The mares do not form strong social bonds, and the stallions don’t keep a harem. Instead, male Grevy’s stake a claim to territory, and then seek to mate with females that move into the area.

This distinctly different behavior is partly explained by genetics. Researchers have found that the endangered Grevy’s zebra — just 5,000 to 10,000 remain — are more closely related to wild asses than they are to the Plains zebra. One difference that is apparent at first glance is that Grevy’s zebras have slimmer stripes than their cousins on the plains, giving them a less brash and more sophisticated look.

Mountain zebras also sport a different look. In addition to its own distinct striping pattern, the Mountain zebra is built more like a donkey, with long ears and an extra flap of skin on its throat. One variety of Mountain zebra, the Hartmann’s zebra of southwestern Africa, once appeared headed for extinction, but its numbers have rebounded from less than 10,000 to more than 15,000 in recent years. Another variety, the endangered Cape mountain zebra, is found only in protected reserves in South Africa.

Why these three different animals evolved their striking stripes (which have made zebras a popular exotic farm animal) is a mystery. Some researchers believe the pattern helps protect the animals from predators such as lions and leopards, either by helping them blend into the background, or by creating a confusing, dazzling mass of color when zebras move as a herd. The flickering confusion makes it difficult for the hunter to home in on a single animal.

Researchers do know that the stripes serve other purposes. You can, for instance, literally know a zebra by its stripes. Every zebra has a unique pattern that enables baby zebras — and keen-eyed researchers — to tell it apart from the others. Within species, however, the stripes can vary dramatically in their boldness and color. In some areas, for instance, Plains zebras may have no stripes on their bellies or legs. The variation, in fact, led some biologists to believe that there once was another kind of zebra — the Quagga, a brownish, lightly striped zebra that became extinct in the late 1800s and is now the focus of a restoration effort.

The mystery of the Quagga and the marvels of zebra behavior continue to fascinate animal lovers and researchers alike. Some are focused on understanding how these Horse Tigers live, in order to protect them from hunters and habitat destruction. Others seek to document the many ways in which these sturdy animals have adapted to often harsh, unforgiving environments. Together, their observations are replacing our black-and-white images of these high-contrast horses with a colorful, detailed portrait of one of Africa’s best known animals.

Online content for Nature’s Horse Tigers was originally posted August 2001.