Never heard of them before, but they’re really neat. Photos in the article.

“Conservationists hoping to save one of the world’s most endangered animals have a new high-tech tool in their arsenal: Social media.

Grevy’s zebras once roamed across five countries in Africa, but their numbers have dwindled to barely 3,000 due to habitat loss and hunting.

Now an online platform known as Wildbook is keeping tabs on these precious equines, by enabling volunteers take and upload photos that are then matched against zebras already in the site's database…”

https://mol.im/a/8659635

The Zoo and Safari Park both have small herds of Grevy Zebras. Quit a site to see up close.

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:

Grevy’s zebras once roamed across five countries in Africa, but their numbers have dwindled to barely 3,000 due to habitat loss and hunting.

https://mol.im/a/8659635

"Hunting"? Hardly hunting as in sport hunting. You can't make a park out of an entire continent, and market hunters (that use snares mostly) in rural areas are going to be taking as much wildlife as they can without discrimination as to what kind of animals, how many etc..., for sale to the locals. Locals that raise livestock or grow crops look at wildlife as competitors which are worse than useless to them. In areas where closely regulated sport-hunting exists, the environment is protected and wildlife is looked at as a renewable resource. That habit is preserved and meat not eaten by those who harvest animals, is distributed to locals as needed and appreciated protein. The money spent on these trips provides hard currency to the locals too as well as paying for the bulk of anti-poaching programs. The social media campaigns do a lot towards lining the pockets of those who have never been to Africa and provide little to no support to communities that are far from the tourist friendly viewing areas of wildlife like the Serengeti.

This doesn't have anything to do with the post other than...relating to zebras. I have always wondered why Africans, since time began, haven't domesticated zebras to ride or for use as beasts of burden. It may have been done, but I've never seen it.

quote:

Originally posted by ftttu:
This doesn't have anything to do with the post other than...relating to zebras. I have always wondered why Africans, since time began, haven't domesticated zebras to ride or for use as beasts of burden. It may have been done, but I've never seen it.

I was informed that zebras have a weak spine that is not strong enough to support a rider. During my tour of Kenya, East Africa last year I saw quite a few Grevy's Zebras.
DEC_1670.jpg by David Casteel, on Flickr

_DSC7788.jpg by David Casteel, on Flickr

And for comparison, this is a regular ("plains") zebra:
DEC_1663.jpg by David Casteel, on Flickr

flashguy