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Burchell's Zebra

 
Burchell's Zebra

 
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Burchell's Zebra
 
 
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The Burchell's zebra is a southern subspecies
Subspecies

In biology, subspecies is the taxonomic rank immediately subordinate to a species. A subspecies is a taxonomic group which is less distinct than the Common descent or species from which it originates....
 of the Plains Zebra
Plains Zebra

The Plains zebra , also known as the Common zebra or the Burchell's zebra, is the most common and geographically widespread form of zebra....
.

hell's Zebra is the most common type of zebrid mammal
Mammal

Mammals are a class of vertebrate animals whose name is derived from their distinctive feature, mammary glands, with which they feed their young....
 with a white/black coloring. The Chapman's variety of the plains zebra can be distinguished from the Burchell's zebra by the presence of black and white to confuse their predators from far away.

erly the Burchell's zebra ranged north of the Vaal/Orange river system, extending northwest via southern Botswana
Botswana

The Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Citizens of Botswana are called "Batswana" , regardless of ethnicity. Formerly a British protectorate of Bechuanaland Protectorate, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth of Nations on 30 September 1966....
 to Etosha and the Kaokoveld
Kaokoveld

The Kaokoveld Desert is a deserts and xeric shrublands of northern Namibia and southern Angola....
, southeast to Swaziland
Swaziland

The Kingdom of Swaziland is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, bordered to the north, south, and west by South Africa, and to the east by Mozambique....
 and Kwazulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal

KwaZulu-Natal , often referred to as "KZN", is a Provinces of South Africa of South Africa. Prior to 1994 the territory now known as KwaZulu-Natal was made up of the Natal Province and all pieces of territory that made up the homeland of KwaZulu....
.






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The Burchell's zebra is a southern subspecies
Subspecies

In biology, subspecies is the taxonomic rank immediately subordinate to a species. A subspecies is a taxonomic group which is less distinct than the Common descent or species from which it originates....
 of the Plains Zebra
Plains Zebra

The Plains zebra , also known as the Common zebra or the Burchell's zebra, is the most common and geographically widespread form of zebra....
.

Characteristics

Burchell's Zebra is the most common type of zebrid mammal
Mammal

Mammals are a class of vertebrate animals whose name is derived from their distinctive feature, mammary glands, with which they feed their young....
 with a white/black coloring. The Chapman's variety of the plains zebra can be distinguished from the Burchell's zebra by the presence of black and white to confuse their predators from far away.

Range

Formerly the Burchell's zebra ranged north of the Vaal/Orange river system, extending northwest via southern Botswana
Botswana

The Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Citizens of Botswana are called "Batswana" , regardless of ethnicity. Formerly a British protectorate of Bechuanaland Protectorate, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth of Nations on 30 September 1966....
 to Etosha and the Kaokoveld
Kaokoveld

The Kaokoveld Desert is a deserts and xeric shrublands of northern Namibia and southern Angola....
, southeast to Swaziland
Swaziland

The Kingdom of Swaziland is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, bordered to the north, south, and west by South Africa, and to the east by Mozambique....
 and Kwazulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal

KwaZulu-Natal , often referred to as "KZN", is a Provinces of South Africa of South Africa. Prior to 1994 the territory now known as KwaZulu-Natal was made up of the Natal Province and all pieces of territory that made up the homeland of KwaZulu....
. Now extinct in the middle portion, it survives at the northwestern and southeastern ends of the distribution.

Not Extinct

Like other plain zebras, Burchell's Zebras must have populated the Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
n plains in impressive numbers. Associations of thousands have been reported. The wild herds were thought to have disappeared by 1910, and the last known captive individual died in the Berlin Zoo in 1918. As Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
an settlement spread northward from the Cape to colonial Southern Rhodesia
Rhodesia

Rhodesia was the name adopted when the formerly British colonies of Southern Rhodesia declared itself independent on 11 November 1965. The name was also used with the establishment of Zimbabwe Rhodesia in 1979....
, this subspecies was thought to have been hunted to extinction
Extinction

In biology and ecology, extinction is the death of every member of a species or group of taxon. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of that species ....
.

However Groves and Bell concluded in their 2004 publication that "the extinct true Burchell's zebra" is a phantom. Careful study of the original zebra populations in Zululand
Zululand

Zululand, the Zulu-dominated area of northern KwaZulu-Natal Province in South Africa, extends along the coast of the Indian Ocean from the Tugela River in the south to Pongola River in the north....
 and Swaziland
Swaziland

The Kingdom of Swaziland is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, bordered to the north, south, and west by South Africa, and to the east by Mozambique....
, and of skins harvested on game farms in Zululand and Natal, has revealed that a certain small proportion shows similarity to what now is regarded as typical "burchellii". The type localities of the subspecies Equus quagga burchellii and Equus quagga antiquorum (Damara Zebra) are so close to each other that the two are in fact one, and that therefore the older of the two names should take precedence over the younger. They therefore say that the correct name for the southernmost subspecies must be burchellii not antiquorum. The subspecies Equus quagga burchellii still exists in Kwazulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal

KwaZulu-Natal , often referred to as "KZN", is a Provinces of South Africa of South Africa. Prior to 1994 the territory now known as KwaZulu-Natal was made up of the Natal Province and all pieces of territory that made up the homeland of KwaZulu....
 and in Etosha

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