Quagga

Quagga, type of zebra that became extinct in the late 19th century. Quaggas, named for their barking calls, were native to southern Africa and were relatives of the plains zebras that exist there today.

Quaggas stood roughly 1.4 m (about 4.5 ft) tall at the shoulder and were about 2.5 m (about 8 ft) long from head to tail. They were distinguished by their creamy white stripes on the head, neck, shoulders, and front part of the back, which contrasted with a reddish-brown background. The quagga had white legs, and the rest of its body was brown.

Quaggas moved in herds of 30 to 50 animals that grazed on desert grasses and sometimes traveled in single file. They were plentiful until the late 1600s, when European colonists in Africa hunted them for their meat and hides and for sport. By the end of the 1870s, the last of the quaggas were wiped out, although not before several had been sent to zoos in Europe. The last of these quaggas died in captivity: in the Berlin Zoo in 1875 and the Amsterdam Zoo in 1883.

Scientists are conducting a breeding program to produce a zebra that will possess many characteristics of the quagga. This goal was inspired in part by deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) studies performed on tissue specimens from a quagga that was preserved by a taxidermist. The program involves the selective breeding of plains zebras with stripe patterns resembling those of quaggas. Scientists hope that it will give rise to animals that will look like the quagga and possibly even have genetic similarities to this extinct animal.

Scientific classification: The quagga was a member of the horse, zebra, and ass family, Equidae, in the Perissodactyla order. It is classified as Equus quagga.