THE HARTEBEEST AND ZEBRA 



three distinct species — the Mountain, the Grevey's, and the 

 Burchell's zebra. 



Of these, the beautiful mountain zebra was formerly 

 very common in the whole of South Africa, frequenting 

 the rugged hills and big mountain forests all over Cape 

 Colony. It has been so decimated during the last decades 

 of the old century by the settlers of that country, that it is 

 now almost extinct in the whole of South Africa, except 

 in a few districts, where it is entirely protected by law. 

 This species is the smallest of the three, standing hardly 

 four feet at the withers. It has a comparatively short, 

 erect, thick mane, long ears, and legs, which are striped all 

 the way down to the hoofs. 



In East Africa only the two last-named varieties are 

 found. The Grevey's zebra the hunter meets mostly in the 

 country to the south and east of Lake Rudolph, in a line 

 toward Mt. Kenia. From here it ranges up to the central 

 part of Somaliland. It is hardly ever seen to the west of 

 Lake Rudolph, nor to the south of Mt. Kenia. The 

 Grevey's zebra is the largest of the family, reaching a 

 height of almost five feet over the shoulder. It differs 

 from the more common Burchell's zebra, not only in size, 

 but also in the color and number of its stripes. Those of 

 the Grevey's are very much narrower, and, therefore, more 

 numerous than the stripes of the Burchell's zebra, while 

 the color of the former is of a much deeper black and 

 snow-white color than that of the latter. Another differ- 

 ence between the two species is the stripes on the legs, 

 which in the case of the Burchell's hardly run below the 

 knees, whereas in the Grevey's zebra they extend right 

 down to the hoofs, as in the true mountain zebra. Then, 



20 1 



