Zebras, horses and wild asses are all equids, long-lived animals that move quickly for their large size and have teeth built for grinding and cropping grass. Zebras have horselike bodies, but their manes are made of short, erect hair, their tails are tufted at the tip and their coats are striped.

Three species of zebra still occur in Africa, two of which are found in East Africa. The most numerous and widespread species in the east is Burchell’s, also known as the common or plains zebra. The other is Grevy’s zebra, named for Jules Grevy, a president of France in the 1880s who received one from Abyssinia as a gift, and now found mostly in northern Kenya. (The third species, Equus zebra, is the mountain zebra, found in southern and southwestern Africa.)

Physical Characteristics
The long-legged Grevy’s zebra, the biggest of the wild equids, is taller and heavier than the Burchell’s, with a massive head and large ears.

Zebras have shiny coats that dissipate over 70 percent of incoming heat, and some scientists believe the stripes help the animals withstand intense solar radiation. The black and white stripes are a form of camouflage called disruptive coloration that breaks up the outline of the body. Although the pattern is visible during daytime, at dawn or in the evening when their predators are most active, zebras look indistinct and may confuse predators by distorting true distance.

The stripes on Grevy’s zebras are more numerous and narrow than those of the plains zebra and do not extend to the belly. In all zebra species, the stripes on the forequarters form a triangular pattern; Grevy’s have a similar pattern on the hindquarters, while others have a slanted or horizontal pattern.

Habitat
Burchell’s zebras inhabit savannas, from treeless grasslands to open woodlands; they sometimes occur in tens of thousands in migratory herds on the Serengeti plains. Grevy’s zebras are now mainly restricted to parts of northern Kenya. Although they are adapted to semi-arid conditions and require less water than other zebra species, these zebras compete with domestic livestock for water and have suffered heavy poaching for their meat and skins.

Behavior
Family groups are stable members maintaining strong bonds over many years. Mutual grooming, where zebras stand together and nibble the hair on each other’s neck and back, helps develop and preserve these bonds. Family members look out for one another if one becomes separated from the rest, the others search for it. The group adjusts its traveling pace to accommodate the old and the weak.

The females within a family observe a strict hierarchical system. A dominant mare always leads the group, while others follow her in single file, each with their foals directly behind them. The lowest- ranking mare is the last in line. Although the stallion is the dominant member of the family, he operates outside the system and has no special place in the line.

Diet
Zebras are avid grazers. Both Burchell’s and Grevy’s zebras are in constant search of green pastures. In the dry season, they can live on coarse, dry grass only if they are within a short distance (usually no farther than 20 miles away) of water holes.

Caring for the Young
When a foal is born the mother keeps all other zebras (even the members of her family) away from it for 2 or 3 days, until it learns to recognize her by sight, voice and smell.

While all foals have a close association with their mothers, the male foals are also close to their fathers. They leave their group on their own accord between the ages of 1 and 4 years to join an all-male bachelor group until they are strong enough to head a family.

Predators
Zebras are important prey for lions and hyenas, and to a lesser extent for hunting dogs, leopards and cheetahs. When a family group is attacked, the members form a semicircle, face the predator and watch it, ready to bite or strike should the attack continue. If one of the family is injured the rest will often encircle it to protect it from further attack.

Did you know?

• Romans called Grevy’s zebras ‘hippotigris’ and trained them to pull two-wheeled carts for exhibition in circuses.
• At first glance zebras in a herd might all look alike, but their stripe patterns are as distinctive as fingerprints are in man. Scientists can identify individual zebras by comparing patterns, stripe widths, color and scars.

Daily Facts

There is no other antelope like the wildebeest. It looks like it was assembled from spare parts – the forequarters could have come from and ox, the hindquarters from an antelope and the mane and tail from a horse. The antics of the territorial bulls during breeding season have earned them the name “clowns of the savanna.”

The species that forms the large herds of the Serengetis-Mara ecosystem of Tanzania and Kenya is variously known as the brindled, blue- or white-bearded gnu. Scientists do, however, make a distinction and list the blue as a separate race restricted to southern Tanzania. The wildebeest described here is the white-bearded of southern Kenya and northern Tanzania.

Physical Characteristics

The head of the wildebeest is large and box-like. Both males and females have curving horns, that are close together at the base, but curve outward, inward and slightly backward. The body looks disproportionate, as the front end is heavily built, the hindquarters slender and the legs spindly.

The wildebeest is gray with darker vertical stripes that look almost black from a distance. This species has a dark name and a long tail. Newborns are a yellowish-brown, but change to adult color at about 2 months.

Habitat
Large herds of wildebeest are located in the plains and acacia of eastern Africa.

Behavior
In the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem the animals make a migratory circle each year of 500 to 1,000 miles. The migration starts after the calving season in January and February on the short grass plains in the southeastern Serengeti. Wildebeests move west toward Lake Victoria, across the grass savanna to the open woodlands, then turn north into the Mara. They then begin the return trip to the south. They are relentless in their advance and will swim rivers and lakes in such huge masses that many are injured, lost (especially in the case of calves) or killed.

Wildebeest are continually on the move as they seek favorable supplied of grass and water. Active both day and night, they often string out in long single columns when on the move. They also cover long distances at a slow rocking gallop but can run fast when necessary. Zebras and Thomson’s gazelles, and some of their many predators, accompany the migrating wildebeests.

During mating season smaller breeding groups of about 150 animals form within the massive herds. In these small groups, five or six of the most active bulls establish and defend territories that females wander through. The bulls go through all kinds of antics, galloping and bucking around their territories. They paw the ground and rub their heads on it, spreading secretions produced by the preorbital and interdigital glands. They also urinate and defecate in a certain spot and toll in it to signal to other bulls to stay away.

When neighboring bulls meet at the edges of their territories they go through a highly ritualized “challenge” in which they paw the ground, buck, snort and fight. They typical combat position in on their knees, facing one another, with their foreheads flat on the ground – they knock heads and hit at the base of the horns but seldom injure one another. Some scientists believe these challenges may increase hormone levels, as the nonterritorial bulls in the bachelor herds are very placid.

Diet
Strictly grazers, wildebeest prefer short grass. They are unable to go without water for more than a few days.

Caring for the Young
Wildebeest females give birth to a single calf in the middle of the herd, not seeking a secluded place, as do many antelopes. Amazingly, about 80 percent of the females calve within the same 2- to 3- week period, creating a glut for predators and thus enabling more calves to survive the crucial first few weeks. A calf can stand and run within minutes of birth. It immediately begins to follow its mother and stays close to her to avoid getting lost or killed by waiting predators. Within days, it can run fast enough to keep up with the adult herd.

A calf eats its first grass at about 10 days, although it is still suckled for at least 4 months. Even after weaning, it will remain with the mother until the next year’s calf is born. At that time the young males are driven away, but the females often remain in the same groups as their mothers.

Predators
Wildebeest are the preferred prey of lions and spotted hyena. Although the animals have no camouflage coloring, they get some protection from gathering in large herds. (If a calf loses its mother it will imprint on and follow whatever is closest – a car, a person or occasionally even a predator, but in the later case, probably not for long.)

Did you know?

• The wildebeest is one of the few African antelopes to have extended its range in the last 50 years. They numbered about 250,000 in 1960 and are thought to number 1.5 million today.
• Wildebeest, or gnus, (pronounced ‘news’), are noisy. They constantly emit low moans and if disturbed, snort explosively.

Daily Facts

Despite its name, the waterbuck is not truly aquatic nor as much at home in water and swamps as is the sitatunga or lechwe. It does, however, take refuge there to escape predators.

Physical Characteristics

The waterbuck has a long-haired, often shaggy brown-gray coat that emits a smelly, greasy secretion thought to be for waterproofing. In East Africa two types occur, the common waterbuck and the defassa waterbuck, distinguished only by the white pattern on the rump. The common waterbuck has a conspicuous white ring encircling a dark rump, while the defassa has wide white patches on either side of the rump.

The waterbuck is a large, robust animal; males are generally about 25 percent larger than the females. Waterbucks have large, rounded ears and white patches above the eyes, around the nose and mouth and on the throat. Only the males have horns, which are prominently ringed and as long as 40 inches. The horns are widely spaced and curve gracefully back and up. They are sometimes used with lethal results when males fight one another over territories.

Habitat
As its name would indicate, the waterbuck inhabits areas that are close to water in savanna grasslands, gallery forests and riverine woodlands south of the Sahara. Such habitats not only provide sustenance but long grasses and watery places in which to hide from predators.

Behavior
Although males do compete for and hold territories, the waterbuck is generally a quiet, sedentary animal. Like some other antelopes, the male does not mark his territory with dung or urine, as his presence and smell are apparently sufficient. He tries to retain females that wander into his area, but is seldom successful for long, since the females have large home ranges and, in herds of five to 25, are constantly crossing in and out of males territories. Waterbucks do not migrate or move great distances, so territories are usually held year round.

Diet
The waterbuck’s habitat furnishes them with a year-round source of food. Mainly grazers, they consume types of coarse grass seldom eaten by other grazing animals and occasionally browse leaves from certain trees and bushes. They feed in the mornings and at night, and rest and ruminate the remainder of the time.

Caring for the Young
Calves are generally born throughout the year, although breeding becomes more seasonal in some areas, after which a single young is born. The mother hides her young for about 3 weeks, returning three to four times a day to suckle it. Each suckling session lasts only about five minutes, during which time the mother cleans the calf so that no odor is left to attract predators. Even so, there is a high rate of calf mortality.

Although the calves begin to eat grass when they are young, they are nursed for as long as 6 to 8 months. After weaning, they begin to wander-off young males often form all-male groups near the occupied territories, while the young females stay in their mother’s group. The waterbuck does not reach adult weight until about 31/2 years. Females mate again soon after bearing young (within 2 to 5 weeks) so the population can increase rapidly.

Predators
Hyenas, lions, and leopards are the major predators, but crocodiles, hunting dogs and cheetahs also take waterbuck.

Did you know?

• The meat of older waterbuck takes on an unpleasant odor from the waterproofing secretions of its sweat glands, prompting predators to choose other prey.
• If the defessa and common waterbucks have bordering ranges they often interbreed; as a result, some scientists consider the two groups as a single species.

Daily Facts