Cape mountain zebra

The Cape mountain zebra differs slightly from the Hartmann's subspecies, being stockier and having longer ears and a larger dewlap. Adults have a shoulder height of 116 to 128  cm, making them the most lightly built subspecies of zebra. There is slight sexual dimorphism with mares having a mass of around 234  kg and stallions weighing around 250–260  kg.[9]

Stripes of the Cape subspecies are narrower and therefore more numerous than the other two zebra species, although slightly wider than those of the Hartmann's subspecies. Stripes on the head are narrowest, followed by those on the body. Much broader, horizontal stripes are found in the hind area of Cape mountain zebra, lacking the “shadow stripes” seen in the plains zebra. Stripes on the hind legs are broader than those of the front legs, and striping continues all the way down to the hooves. However, the dark vertical stripes stop abruptly at the flanks, leaving the belly white.[9]

The Cape mountain zebra is a graminivore, meaning that its diet consists mainly of grasses. It is a highly selective feeder, showing a preference for greener leafy plants, particularly the South African red grass and the weeping lovegrass. In marginal habitat such as fynbos, mountain zebra have been found to also feed on young restio shoots, as well as underground bulbs.[13] Low growing, very coarse, small stalky grasses, as well as dying leaf material are usually avoided. It has been seen that the Cape subspecies is a climax grazer, meaning it feeds at quite a high level off the ground. This means that increasing the abundance of low level grazers such as springbok will reduce grass height to a level lower than the zebra’s biting height, which could have detrimental consequences to the population.[14]

The Cape mountain zebra is not territorial, and populations consist of small groups of two types: breeding groups and bachelor groups. A breeding herd consists of a mature stallion and up to five mares and their foals. Stallions that cannot obtain mares associate in less defined bachelor groups. Once established, breeding groups normally stay together for many years; one stallion in the Mountain Zebra National Park is known to have stayed with his herd for more than a decade until he was at least 17 years old.[15][16] Foals leave their herds on their own accord at around 22 months of age, and unlike the Hartmann subspecies whose mares force foals out, stallions of the Cape subspecies actually try to prevent them leaving.[15] This behavior of foals in free-ranging populations could be a mechanism to prevent inbreeding.[17]

If two breeding herds meet, the stallions of each herd will approach each other and perform a challenging ritual: body rubbing, touching noses and nasogenital contact.[15] A dominance hierarchy exists but doesn’t seem to correlate with leadership, which is selected randomly. It has been observed that the social hierarchy can change due to the birth of a foal: while fertile, lower ranking mares can threaten higher ranking ones, and mares with new-born foals are highly aggressive towards other members of the herd.[18]

Although never locally abundant, the Cape mountain zebra historically occurred throughout the mountain ranges of the southern Cape Province of South Africa. By 1922 however, only 400 were believed to survive. In 1936, when Minister of Lands (and former Boer War general) Jan Kemp was asked to set aside a special reserve for the Cape mountain zebra, to which he gave his now infamous reply: "No! They're just a lot of donkeys in football jerseys.”

A year later, in response to the continued decline, the government established the Mountain Zebra National Park on Acacia veld near Cradock, South Africa, but its small population of Cape mountain zebra died out in 1950. That same year reintroductions from nearby remnant populations began. Eleven animals were donated from a nearby farm in 1950, and in 1964 another small herd was added. By the late 1960s, the total Cape mountain population was only 140 but grew to 200 by 1979, with 75% of the animals residing in Mountain Zebra National Park. In 1984, the population was back to 400 individuals. Since then a few zebras have been reintroduced to the Cape Point Section of Table Mountain National Park.[11][12]