Zebra
Equus quagga
Appearance
Zebra's have black and white stripes. They belong in the horse family. The height of a zebra is about 3.5 to 5 feet. They weigh from 440 to 990 pounds. On average, a zebra in the wild lives 25 years.
Behavior
The zebras main diet is mostly grass. They also eat bark and leaves as well as fruit and roots. They graze during the day and tend to stay together in small herbs. Zebras are constantly on the move to find fresh grass and water. Zebras as very social animals and live in large groups. Zebras sleep standing up, and only when they are in groups that can warn them of danger. Sometimes, they gather in huge herds of thousands as they migrate to better feeding grounds. The population of plain zebras are around 750,000. However, there are only about 2,500 remaining today.
Habitat
Zebras live throughout Africa. They live in the Savanna Biome. Plains zebra are found on the savannas from Sudan to northern Zimbabwe in eastern Africa. They live in rolling grassland scattered with shrubs and isolated trees, which can be found between a tropical rainforest and desert biome. Plains Zebra are widely distributed and are classified as least concern by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). Human actions have not yet resulted in range-wide population declines, hunting and habitat loss is resulting in localized declines in some areas.