Habitat: Mountain slopes and open grasslands
Status: Vulnerable
DAK Locale: Animal Kingdom Lodge
The mountain zebra is found along the mountains of south western Africa. They feed on the grasses, shrubs and leaves from the more arid portions of the region. They do prefer higher elevations but will move down the slopes for grazing and have been known to seek shelter from the cold in forests.
Compared to plains zebra, the mountain variety live in much smaller groups. Typically, there is only one male, along with a up to five females and foals. The male will control the group until a bachelor overthrows him. The other males live in their own separate bachelor-only groups.
Mountain zebras are divided amongst two subspecies, the Cape and the Hartmann's (which are found at the Animal Kingdom Lodge). The Hartmann's mountain zebra are found in the extreme southwestern part of Angola as well as western Namibia. They average 7 to 8.5 feet in height and can weigh up to 800 pounds. This type of zebra have particularly strong hooves for climbing. Coloration is the same as other zebra except their bellies are white with one black stripe.
The mountain zebra is considered vulnerable. There are only about 7000 Hartmann's mountain zebras left in the wild. Hunting has been the biggest problem as locals are concerned about competition with domestic animals needing the same grasslands. Droughts have also hastened the decline of the species.
No comments:
Post a Comment