194 



The Living Animals of the World 



Photo by York d: Son] [3 



MARE AND FOAL OF BURCHELL'S ZEBRA. 

 These animals breed regularly in captivity. 



far distant, and it is my experience 



that these animals require to drink 



daily, and never wander more than 



a few miles away from the pool or 



river they frequent. 



This species of zebra may often 



be seen in Southern Africa in 



company with other animals, such 



as buffaloes, blue wildebeests, elands, 



gemsbucks, roan and sassaby ante- 

 lopes, and ostriches, and I have upon 



several occasions seen them come up 



to domestic cattle and horses. They 



are naturally not very wary, and in 



parts of the country where they 



have not been much molested are 



often very inquisitive, and will come 



trotting quite close up to a caravan, 



provided they do not get the scent 



of human beings. Foals of this 



species are easily caught, and become at once very tame and confiding ; nor do I believe that 



adult Burchell's zebras are such vicious animals as is generally supposed, since I have seen 



several which were very quiet and well broken, whilst even the half-broken animals, which 



were at one time used on one of the coach-lines in the Transvaal, did not appear very vicious. 

 As with Grevy's zebra, the flesh of the species under consideration is much appreciated 



both by natives and Hons. I have often seen the fat on the quarters of the mares quite an 



inch thick. It is of a dark yellow colour, and too rich to suit the stomach of a European. 



The meat is rather sweet in taste, but if fried with bacon not at all unpalatable. 



Professor Ewart has lately carried out a very 

 interesting series of experiments on the hybrid- 

 ising of zebras and horses. The results were very 

 satisfactory. The zebra cross proved to be very 

 hardy creatures, capable of wintering in the open 

 on the hills of Scotland. The scientific data 

 obtained were of singular value, as showing the 

 effect of crossbreeding on subsequent generations 

 of foals of the same mother. It has long been 

 believed that the influence of the first sire was seen 

 in foals of which other animals were subsequently 

 the fathers. Thus, if a white mare threw a foal 

 to a black stallion, it was considered that her 

 subsequent progeny would occasionally be black, 

 and instances were freely quoted to support this 

 theory. The scientific name of "telegony" was 

 given to this supposed influence of previous sires 

 on future offspring. Professor Ewart's experiments, 

 in which pony mares were first mated with a 

 zebra and afterwards with horses, show that this 

 theory of telegony is erroneous. The foals sired 

 afterwards by ponies and horses showed no trace 

 whatever of zebra stripes, but were normal pony 

 foals, and not altered either in shape or disposition. 





Photo by Karma* B. 6'/;i<( 



BURCHELL'S ZEBRA. 



This species is occasionally domesticated and driven in South 

 Africa, as it is not injured by the tsetse fly. 



