Cape Town – A Rau quagga foal, a rare zebra subspecies, has been accepted as one of the herd at Vergelegen wine estate in Somerset West.
The arrival of the healthy quagga has been described as a milestone in an ambitious project, initiated by a group of conservationists in 1987, to breed an animal resembling as closely as possible the quagga.
The animal was hunted to extinction in the second half of the 19th century and the last known mare died in Amsterdam Zoo in 1883.
The young foal was born in Vergelegen on December 14 after a 12-month gestation period.
It was left undisturbed to bond with the other seven quagga and its sex has not yet been determined.
“This youngster appears very relaxed and has been accepted as one of the herd,” said Eben Olderwagen, environmental project manager at Vergelegen.
“It has grown about 15cm taller in a month and has been spotted nibbling lucerne, in addition to suckling from its mother.”
Quagga are shorter and stockier than Southern Plains zebras, with a pale brown hide and black markings, unlike the white hide and black markings of other Plains zebras.
Quagga usually have stripes on the head, neck and front portion of their bodies only.
The quagga at Vergelegen, introduced from Pampoenvlei in the Atlantis/ Darling area in May last year, are located in a 180-hectare reserve with lush natural grazing, a mix of renosterbos, Boland granite fynbos and various grasses.
Olderwagen said management hoped that the founder herd would continue to breed and, after about two years, selected quagga would be exchanged with others in the programme.
This will prevent in-breeding and reinforce the quest to breed quagga as near as possible to the original species.
Visitors have the opportunity to spot the quagga by booking a place on the estate’s popular guided game drives.
Cape Times