ZEBRA, the name for the African striped members of the horse tribe. The true or mountain zebra (Equus zebra) main tains a precarious foothold in the mountainous region of Cape Colony and also inhabits Angola. It stands about 4ft. at the shoulder, with fairly long ears, a tail scantily clothed with hair, and a short mane. The ground colour is white and the stripes, absent only on the abdomen and inside of the thighs, are black.
The lower part of the face is brown. The stripes on the haunch do not reach the median dorsal stripe and there are a number of short stripes between the two. These are absent in Burchell's zebra (E. burchelli), which is a larger animal with smaller, more completely white ears, a longer mane and a fuller tail. Burchell's zebra extends from the plains north of the Orange river to north east Africa. The ground-colour of the body is pale yellowish brown, the stripes, which in the southern individuals do not extend on to the limbs and tail, dark brown or black. Grant's
zebra (E. b. granti) is the northern, completely striped race which lacks the characteristic "ghost" stripes between the main ones. Grevy's zebra (E. grevyi) inhabits Abyssinia and Somaliland and is distinguished by its enormous ears and numerous, narrow, black stripes. The species known as quagga (q.v.) is now extinct. Zebras occur in large herds and are one of the staple articles of diet of the lion. Their stripes result in a camouflage effect, caus ing them to fade away against the background, particularly at night, when they principally feed. Zebras can be trained for driving and riding, but only with difficulty. (See HORSE.) ZEBU (Bos indicus), an Indian species of ox, characterized by its light colour and the possession of a hump on the back. The sacred bulls of India belong to this species, which is much used for draught and farm work, and also supplies milk. (See CATTLE.)