Quagga
Equus quagga
The Birth and Death of the Quagga
- Discovered in 1778
- Became extinct on August 12, 1883
Location and Initial Population Size
- The Quaggas were found in the Southern part of the free state of Southern Africa and Karroo.
- Most of the Quaggas had lived in Arid temperatures, however some lived in wetter pastures.
- They never could specify the initial popilation size.
Behavior and Ecology
- They eat, sleep, and socialize like any other animal, but they spend most of their time eating.
- They tend to gather in herds of 30 to 50 at a time.
- They were really social.
- For example They interacted with other animals like ostrich and wildebeests.
- These relations usually benefited both parties.
These were what these beautiful creatures once looked like back in the day.
Fun fact: People used to think that Quaggas was its own species but later people found out it was a subspecies of the Plain Zebra.
Causes Of extinction
- Their main cause of extinction was because they got killed by hunters.
- They were for their fur and meat.
- The hunters didn't realize that they had killed an entire species before it was too late.
- There was animals that killed the Quaggas, but that was nothing compared to the deadly hunters.
Prevention Of Extinction
- The hunters could have realized that they were killing way to many off and stopped killing them.
- The hunters could have put a limit of the amount of zebras that could have been killed.
- They could have also put a hunting season for the Quaggas instead of them being hunted year around.
- Zoos could have got more Quaggas for amusement for kids and others,so people could see how Quaggas are and less could have been killed.
Ecological Affect Of Extinction
- There was a lack of food for their predators such as tigers, lions, Nile crocodiles, and other predators.
- The food that Quaggas ate were more abundant after the extinction.
- The hunters were not able to obtain their fur, leather, and meat which would make the economy worse.
- This would mean loss of jobs for the hunters and the people who sell the meat and fur of the zebras.
Bibliography
"13 Animals Hunted to Extinction." MNN. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2016.
"CNN Inside Africa Features the Quagga Project." The Quagga Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2016.
"Plains Zebra - Equus Quagga - Details - Encyclopedia of Life." Encyclopedia of Life. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2016.
"Quagga Facts." QUAGGA FACTS. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2016.
"Quagga." - New World Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2016.
"Rare & Extinct Creatures: Quagga." Rare & Extinct Creatures: Quagga. Web. 18 Feb. 2016.
"Support the." Equus Quagga (Burchell's Zebra, Common Zebra, Painted Zebra, Plains Zebra). N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2016.