Habitat: Semi Arid Grasslands of Africa
Status: Endangered
DAK Locale: Kilimanjaro Safari
The Grevy's Zebra is the largest and most endangered of all zebra species. In fact, it is also the largest living wild horse. The species was named after the president of France by a French biologist in the 1880s. A specimen was given to Jules Grevy by the government of Abyssinia.
This species of zebra live in the dry grasslands of Kenya and Ethiopia. Its range is much more limited than the plains zebra who share they share space with at the Animal Kingdom's Kilimanjaro Safari. It was never over abundant as it historically has had a limited range in the wild.
The Grevy zebra is considered the most primitive of the zebra species. It is more mule-like in appearance with a larger head and longer nostrils. Its ears are larger and more conical in shape. Its neck is shorter and thicker than its zebra brethren. Like all zebra, the animal has black and white stripes, but in this type the stripes are narrow and close together. The simplest way to tell a Grevy's zebra from other zebras is the fact that is that the belly lacks stripes. If you see an all white stomach, you are looking at the Grevy's zebra.
Grevy's are used to no water and can last up to five days without drinking. They have hindgut fermentation that allows them to exist on low nutrition content than many other animals, another adaptation for living in dry grasslands. The births of foals generally take place during the brief rainy season in August and September. Females with young foals stick together. This allows the mothers to leave their young with one of the other mothers while searching for food and water.
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