Zebra

Twister, a fictional zebra character in Extinctioners

The Zebra is a relative of the horse native to the savannahs of Africa. The name zebra may refer to any of three extant species or eight subspecies of the genus Equus. It is easily recognized by the black and white stripes of its fur, which, like a human fingerprint, vary between each individual, and is used to ward off insect bites and predators.

The three extant species include the plains zebra (Equus quagga), the Grévy's zebra (Equus grevyi), and the mountain zebra (Equus zebra). The former two belong to the subgenus Hippotigris, whereas the latter belongs to the subgenus Dolichohippus. The Grévy's zebra and the mountain zebra are endangered, and the quagga, a subspecies of plains zebra went extinct in the late 1800s due to hunting for food and skins, but has since been rebred from zebra DNA. Of the three remaining species, both the mountain and the Grévy's zebra are in the threatened category, the mountain zebra classified as Vulnerable and the Grévy's zebra endangered.

Unlike their close relatives, the horse and donkey, zebras have never truly been domesticated due to their unpredictability and liability to startle under stress. Therefore, hybrids are prefered for domestication. Hybrids of zebras and any other equine species are known as zebroids. Such hybrids include the zorse, zony, and zonkey.

Zebra characters are few and far between in furry fandom, though they are used occasionally as funny animal counterparts to humans of African descent.

See also

• Zebra on Wikipedia
• Zebra characters

This species stub needs improving.