THE MOUNTAIN ZEBRA 



to run them down on the mountain tops. The way 

 I have seen them caught is as follows : 



After locating a troop of Zebras, about a dozen 

 mounted men made a wide detour and formed a 

 semicircle behind them, and with yells, cracking of 

 whips and revolver-shots, the animals were driven 

 on to the slopes, where half-a-dozen well-mounted 

 men were concealed. At the right moment these 

 dashed out in pursuit, while the others guarded the 

 passes up the mountains. The chase taxes the 

 endurance of a good horse to the utmost. The 

 exhausted Zebra is eventually run down, a noose 

 is slipped over its head from the end of a six- or eight- 

 foot stick, and when the quarry falls half strangled, 

 a stout headstall is slipped on the head. It is then 

 led off between two mounted men, each of whom 

 has a rope tied to his saddle, the other end being 

 secured to the headstall on the Zebra. A third man 

 rides behind, and urges the captive on with a whip. 



Zebras when hunted in this way often fall dead 

 from exhaustion, or break their necks or legs in their 

 desperate struggle for liberty. A stallion which was 

 captured in the mountains in George District was 

 confined in a small stone kraal, and, at a standing 

 leap, cleared the wall, which was exactly six feet 

 in height, without touching the top. 



The Mountain Zebra has the reputation of being 

 an untameable beast, and authors for a long time past 

 have handed down this statement, which is untrue 

 as far as my experience goes. When adult mares 



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