At Drie Kuilen Nature Reserve, we are fortunate to have 15 of the endangered Cape Mountain Zebra (CMZ). Below is a bit more information about this very rare and charismatic animal. The CMZ, Equus zebra zebra, occurs in limited mountainous regions of the Western and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. The species grazes on grass and forbs but in times of shortage will browse on shrubs and trees. It once was regarded as a separate species from Hartmanns mountain zebra, but in the light of genomic evidence the two populations now are regarded as subspecies of Equus zebra. CMZs differ slightly from the Hartmanns subspecies, being stockier and having longer ears and a larger dewlap. In its build it is the smallest subspecies of zebra. Its stripes are black and closely spaced on a white background. They are broad on the upper hind legs, but narrower towards the forequarters and head. The striping continues all the way down to the hooves, but stops on the flanks, leaving the belly white. Mountain zebras associate in small groups of two types: family groups and bachelor groups. A family group comprises a mature stallion and up to about five mares (usually two or three) plus their offspring. Stallions that cannot obtain mares associate loosely in bachelor groups. Members of a family group 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. The Cape mountain zebra, though never locally numerous, formerly inhabited all 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, he gave his now infamous reply: No! Theyre just a lot of donkeys in football jerseys. In 1937 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 percent of the animals in Mountain Zebra National Park. In 1984, the population was back to 400 head. Since then a few zebras have been reintroduced to the Cape Point Section of Table Mountain National Park. By 2009 (when the last status survey was conducted) the total extant Cape mountain zebra population was found to consist of no less than 2 790 individuals in 52 sub-populations – 35 privately owned and 17 formally protected. Conservation efforts have therefore so far been a success, as the initial target population size of 2500 has been reached. Cape mountain zebra are now listed as Vulnerable by the World Conservation Union (IUCN red list category and criteria C1 2008) instead of ‘Endangered’, as before.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 13:00:53 +0000