Grevy's Zebra

Viviana Garcia

Mr. Skipper

Encounters 8

February 16, 2024

Great Grevy's Zebras

Introduction

There are many different endangered animals in Africa. One of these animals is the Grevy's Zebra, who live in many different areas of Africa. The zebras will move together in herds and often won't be found alone, causing the zebras to have a more likely chance of survival, yet this is not always the case. The zebras tend to migrate for food, causing them to be targeted as food and furs by humans and other animals. The Grevy's Zebra's endangerment has an extremely negative impact on the ecosystem. The extinction of the zebra may cause the death of their predators and more. This would then cause many of the animals in the surrounding area to overpopulate, and the extinction of many others. While the extinction of the zebra may not seem like it will impact the ecosystem, the Grevy's Zebras help their habitat in various ways, requiring more time and care to be saved. 

Description 

The Grevy's Zebra, also known as the Equus greyvi, is one of the most beautiful animals in the world. These zebras are typically slightly taller than other zebras, as they can be 4 to 5 feet tall and 750 to 1,000 pounds (Grevy's Zebra, National Geographic). Due to their weight, the zebras must stand while sleeping. If they lie down, their weight could crush their organs. The zebras have many different adaptations, including long ears with hair around them to keep dust out of the ears. The Zebra's stripes help them hide in the grass and when "moving together" this makes the predator dizzy and unable "to choose a target" (Zebra, Animal Network). They can run for a long period over many different types of ground and rocks because their hooves are designed to "run easily over rocky ground." Most of the time zebras are white with black stripes yet they can "be born with genetic variations" and be black with white stripes or they may have brown stripes. (Zebra, San Diego Zoo). The Grevy's Zebras stripes are "just like human fingerprints" and can be used by other zebras to identify each other, every stripe is unique (Zebra, Animal Network). 

Habitat

The Grevy's zebras live in one of the world's most luscious habitats.  These zebras live in the grasslands of Africa, native to Ethiopia and northern Kenya. The zebra's habitat has many plants, needed for the zebra's survival. Zebras tend to look for dry, semi-arid scrub and grasslands. They share this habitat with wildebeest, ostriches, and more. The fact that so many different types of animals share this habitat causes overgrazing, leaving less food for other animals.  Yet these animals get rid of the hard dead grasses "that are too tough" for the zebras to eat (Grevy's Zebra, National Geographic). The Zebra's habitat is slowly decreasing because it is being used for more farming land giving the zebras less area to graze (Zebra, Animal Network). During the dry season, the Zebras must move from their habitat to other areas with food and water, causing them to decrease rapidly due to lack of food, water, and habitat. These Zebras are considered "nomadic" as they change their habitat depending on the season and food sources available. The Grevy's zebra marks their territory with their dung, hoping to attract mates in areas with a vast amount of plants and water, although during the dry season, they leave and go with other groups of zebras in search of food (Zebra, San Diego Zoo). 

Food

Zebra's food sources have been impacted in many different ways. The Grevy's zebra eat a variety of food in the wild, as they are herbivores and they tend to look in areas with a luscious amount of plants. However, most of their diet is made up of grasses, they also tend to eat other items including bark, leaves, shrubs, and more (Zebra, Animal Network).  While zebras need lots of grass in their diet, they also need a large amount of water to survive causing them to have to stay within an area that includes bodies of water, while also looking for plants to graze (Grevy's Zebra, African Wildlife).  Zebra's food sources can come from many different areas in Africa, as they migrate to different areas depending on the season. The zebras will tend to travel in herds looking for food. The males lead the herd and will "sound" if they hear or see predators (Zebra, San Diego Zoo).  The zebra is the prey of many different animals including humans, lions, cheetahs, and more. Because humans and other species have continued to hunt for these zebras, their population has decreased which has caused a rise in the amount of grasses and other plants in the area (Grevy's Zebra, African Wildlife).

Issues

The Grevy's Zebras are facing one of the most critical issues that may result in the extinction of this species. The Grevy's Zebras tend to migrate often to other grassland areas with drier weather. This affects the health of foals and pregnant mares, causing them to die, as they are not able to find food sources. Because zebras give birth to one foal a year, this can slow down the reproduction rate, causing predators of the zebra to re-populate at a faster rate (Grevy's Zebra, National Geographic). The Grevy's Zebra can only give birth to one foal per year every two years, giving the zebra a maximum of five foals in their lifetime. Mares take slightly over a year to give birth, as other predators, such as lions give birth to more than one cub at a time in a shorter gestation period (Grevy's Zebra, African Wildlife).   These zebras are often killed off by other animals and also used as "meat, fur, and as trophies"  by humans in the surrounding areas (Zebra, Animal Network). The average zebra in the wild lives for about twelve to thirteen years, while zebras in captivity live about twenty-two to thirty years. The population of the zebras has gone down by more than half in about 30 years. The Grevy's Zebra population has decreased from 5,800 to 2,800, making them close to critically endangered (Grevy's Zebra, African Wildlife). Facing many issues such as disease, predator attacks, and human hunters, continues to be a challenge for the Grevy's Zebras. The zebra population tries to fend for themselves with their abilities and adaptations. Although these zebras have a powerful kick and other adaptations that help them survive, these aren't always enough to face these challenges. It is important for the zebras to get help from humans and organizations. Organizations such as zoos and charities can help to keep the zebra population at a high number and prevent the zebra from going extinct (Zebra, San Diego Zoo). 

Preservation Plan

The Grevy's Zebra are a very important animal in their habitat, causing the endangerment of them to have a large effect.  Because more people are entering the zebra's habitat, this has caused a "rapid decline" in the population, causing the zebras to move to other locations. These locations are specified for Grevy's Zebras and have this species moved to areas such as the Horn of Africa and more. (Grevy's Zebra, African Wildlife). Even though there are fewer zebras as the numbers are lowering they can "be found across Eritrea, Djibouti, and Somalia." Although there are laws in several areas to protect Grevy's Zebras, their habitat is becoming home for livestock and other animals causing them to leave these "safe havens." Zebras are declining in population because of the decrease in their habitat, and this can cause a "devastating effect on pregnant and nursing females and their foals" because they are "fragile and require more resources to survive." Many must take into consideration the fact that zebras are one of the main sources of food for other animals, which the predators of the population may need to decrease for the zebras to increase (Grevy's Zebra, National Geographic). Several organizations such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature, Northern Rangelands Trusts, Kenya Wildlife Service, and the Grevy’s Zebra Trust. Including reserves such as the Buffalo Spring National Reserve, yet most reserves do not exclude other species of animals. These animals can be the many different predators of the zebra and can include lions, tigers, and more. The Grevy's zebras are killed for many different reasons, the main reasons being for "their striking skins" and "for food." (Grevy's Zebra, African Wildlife).  Scientists have begun to research these Zebras to find more ways to preserve this animal. Yet cost can have a huge impact on the amount of research that can be done  (Zebra, San Diego Zoo). 

Work Cited 

"Grevy's Zebra." African Wildlife Foundation, www.awf.org/wildlife-conservation/grevys-zebra. 

"Grevy's Zebra." National Geographic, www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/grevy-s-zebra. 

"Zebra." Animal Network, 2018, animals.net/zebra/#google_vignette. 

"Zebra." San Diego Zoo, 2023, 

animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals /zebra.