How Long Does a Baby Grevys Zebra Stay With Its Mother

Geographic Range

Grevy's zebras live in northern Kenya and a few minor areas of southern Ethiopia. Historically, Grevy's zebras inhabited Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, and Kenya in East Africa. The last survey in Kenya in 2000 resulted in an estimated population of 2,571. Electric current estimates place the number of Grevy's zebras in Kenya between i,838 and 2,319. In Ethiopia, the current population estimate is 126, over a 90% decrease from the estimated 1,900 in 1980. The eastern distribution is north of the Tana River eastward of Garissa and the Lorian Swamp. In the west, they are constitute east and north of a line from Mount Kenya to Donyo Nyiro, and east of Lake Turkana to Ethiopia. In Ethiopia, they are plant east of the Omo River n to Lake Zwai, southeast to Lake Stephanie and to Marsabit in Kenya. ("Grevy's Zebra", 2004; "Grevy's Zebra Trust: Endangered Species", 2007; "Grevy'south Zebra", 2004; Churcher, 1993; "Grevy's Zebra", 1999; "Equus Grevyi", 2003)

ethiopian
- native

Habitat

Grevy's zebras inhabit semi-arid grasslands, filling a niche distinct from that of other members of the genus Equus that alive within the same geographical range, such as wild asses (which prefer barren habitats) and plains zebras (which are more than dependent on h2o than Grevy'due south zebras). They usually adopt arid grasslands or acacia savannas. The most suitable areas take a permanent water source. In recent years, Grevy'due south zebras take go increasingly concentrated in the south of their range due to habitat loss in the due north. During the dry season, when location well-nigh a permanent water source is especially important, zebras tend to become more full-bodied in territories with permanent h2o sources. In rainy seasons, they are more dispersed. Areas with green, short grass and medium-dense bush are used by lactating females and bachelors more frequently than non-lactating females or territorial males. Lactating females may trade off forage quantity and safety to access nutrients in growing grass. ("Grevy's Zebra Trust: Endangered Species", 2007; "Grevy's Zebra", 2004; Cordingley, et al., 2009; "Grevy's Zebra", 1999; Sundaresan, et al., 2008)

tropical
terrestrial

savanna or grassland

Range elevation

300 to 600 yard

984.25 to 1968.50 ft
Average elevation

500 yard

1640.42 ft

Physical Description

Grevy's zebras have big heads, large and rounded ears, and thick, erect manes. The cage is brown. The neck is thicker and more robust than in other zebra species. These qualities make it announced more mule-like than other zebras. The coat has black and white narrow stripes, shaped like chevrons, that wrap around each other in a concentric pattern and are bisected by a blackness dorsal stripe. The chevron design is particularly distinct on the limbs, where the indicate of the chevron points dorsally, becoming more acute the further up the limb they climb; they accomplish a final peak at the shoulders and the withers. On the cranium, chevrons extend dorsally to the cheek, where the pattern becomes more linear. The belly of this zebra is completely white, different other zebras. Grevy's zebras are also the largest of all the wild equids and only domestic horses are larger. Grevy's zebras exhibit slight sexual dimorphism; males are usually about 10 percent larger than females. Grevy'south zebra foals are built-in with a glaze that has scarlet-chocolate-brown or russet stripes instead of the blackness of adults. This gradually darkens to black as the zebra ages. A dorsal mane that extends from the tiptop of the head to the base of operations of the tail is present in all young zebras. This mane is erect when an brute is excited and flat when information technology is relaxed. Adult dental formula is 3/iii, 1/ane, 4/four, iii/3. ("Grevy'southward Zebra Trust: Endangered Species", 2007; "Grevy's Zebra", 2004; Churcher, 1993; "Grevy'southward Zebra", 1999)

endothermic
homoiothermic
bilateral symmetry

male larger

Range mass

349 to 451 kg

768.72 to 993.39 lb
Range length

125 to 150 cm

49.21 to 59.06 in
Average length

135 cm

53.fifteen in

Reproduction

A male person mates with any females that come into his territory if they are in estrous. Mares are usually polyandrous and mate with one male before switching territories and mating with another, although sometimes mares become monandrous. When a mare stays in a unmarried territory, usually because she desires the resources that are present in that territory, she volition stay with a single male and mate but with him. (Churcher, 1993; Ginsberg and Rubenstein, 1990)

polygynous

Grevy'southward zebras can mate year round, only the bulk of convenance occurs from July to August and September to October. Foals are built-in after a 13 calendar month gestation menstruation, usually within the rainy months of the year. Peaks ordinarily occur in May and June, the catamenia of long rains, and in November and Dec, the period of short rains. As nativity approaches, females isolate themselves from the herd. Nascency normally takes place lying downwardly, with the young's hoofs appearing showtime, and full emergence in 7 to 8 minutes. If birth begins with the mother standing, information technology is completed lying downward. The newborn frees itself from the amniotic membranes and crawls towards its mother'due south caput. The mother licks it clean and ingests the membranes and some amniotic fluid, which may be important in initiating lactation or the maternal bond. Zebras accept an average of 275 days to be weaned. Once weaned, they keep to stay with their mother. Females disperse sooner than males, females disperse at 13 to 18 months and males often stay with their mother for upward to 3 years. A newborn Grevy's zebra foal is russet-colored with a long hair crest down its dorsum and belly. At this stage, imprinting occurs. Female zebras keep other zebras at a distance so that the foal tin bail with its mother. Newborn foals can walk just twenty minutes afterward being born and run after an hour, which is a very important survival adaptation for this cursorial, migrating species. Foals nurse heavily for half a year and may take as long as three years to be completely weaned. Females reach sexual maturity around 3 years of historic period and males achieve sexual maturity around 6 years of age. Females tend to excogitate in one case every two years. ("Grevy's Zebra Trust: Endangered Species", 2007; "Grevy'south Zebra", 2004; Churcher, 1993; "Grevy'southward Zebra", 1999)

iteroparous
twelvemonth-round breeding
gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
sexual
viviparous

Breeding interval

Female Grevy's zebras breed about once every 2 years.
Breeding season

Grevy's zebras can mate twelvemonth round, merely almost breeding occurs July through August and Oct through November.
Range number of offspring

1 to 1
Boilerplate number of offspring

1

AnAge
Range gestation catamenia

358 to 438 days
Average gestation period

390 days
Boilerplate weaning historic period

275 days
Range fourth dimension to independence

1 to iii years
Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female person)

three to four years
Average historic period at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)

3 years
Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)

1 to 7 years
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)

6 years

Males play fiddling to no office in caring for the young, females are solely responsible for caring for the young. Immediately after childbirth, the foal imprints on the mother and can recognize her distinct scent, appearance, and vocalizations. An imprinted foal volition directly follow its mother and tin recognize the shape of the stripes on its mother's backside. Until it is weaned, a foal will follow its mother and learn to mimic all of her behavior. Female foals become independent from their mothers sooner than male foals, even though both genders are weaned at around the same time. Males often remain with their nativity herd until they reach three years of historic period and females have been known to separate at merely 13 months of age.

precocial
pre-fertilization
- provisioning
- protecting
  - female
pre-hatching/birth
- provisioning
  - female
- protecting
  - female
pre-weaning/fledging
- provisioning
  - female
- protecting
  - female person
pre-independence
- provisioning
  - female person
- protecting
  - female
post-independence association with parents

Lifespan/Longevity

Like most other species the lifespan of Equus grevyi is longer in captivity than in the wild. In captivity, Equus grevyi usually lives betwixt 22 and 30 years. In the wild, the median age is closer to 12 or 13, although an 18 twelvemonth former animal has been reported. (Churcher, 1993)

Range lifespan
Status: wild

18 (high) years
Range lifespan
Condition: captivity

30 (high) years
Typical lifespan
Status: wild

18 (loftier) years
Average lifespan
Condition: wild

12-13 years
Typical lifespan
Status: captivity

22 to 30 years

Behavior

Grevy's zebras are dissimilar from most other members of the genus Equus in that they practise not have concrete social construction. They are loosely social animals; herd limerick can vary on a daily basis as new members enter a ascendant male'southward territory and old members leave. The ii most stable relationships that Grevy's zebras have are a stallion'southward attachment to his territory and a mare's attachment to her immature. At that place is not a rigorously observed bureaucracy of dominance inside a group of Grevy'south zebras, although a authorization structure is present. A territorial male has the right to convenance females in that territory. In the absenteeism of females, males will associate in bachelor herds with a loose dominance structure. Males are territorial and claim prime watering and grazing areas. These territories tin go upwards to 6 square kilometers in size. Males mark their territories with piles of dung, called "middens," and emit loud vocalizations that allow other zebras know they're present. A territorial male may retain his territory for a catamenia of 7 years before a younger, stronger male challenges him for it. Grevy'south zebra males are lone in their territories, except when females arrive in convenance flavor. Bachelor males, or not-territorial males, travel together in groups of 2 to vi. This social organisation is different from other zebras, which form female person harems in a unmarried male'southward territory all year. During droughts, some Grevy's zebras migrate to mount pastures where food sources are more than abundant, but territorial males oftentimes remain on their territories year-round.

Lactating females have different resource requirements than non-lactating females. When females are lactating, they need water at least every other mean solar day, so male zebras in territories with large, rubber bodies of water in them usually go the opportunity to mate with more females. Lactating females have more restricted movements and fewer male person associates than non-lactating females. It is possible that male harassment also influences female distribution and associations with males. Lactating females experience higher harassment rates from males than non-lactating females and tend to move faster during harassment periods ("Grevy's Zebra Trust: Endangered Species", 2007; "Grevy's Zebra", 2004; "Grevy's Zebra", 1999; Sundaresan, et al., 2007)

cursorial
diurnal
motile
nomadic
solitary
territorial
social
authorisation hierarchies

Range territory size

2 to 12 km^2
Average territory size

6 km^two

Home Range

Territorial males have territories of every bit little as 2 square kilometers and every bit much as 12 square kilometers, although the average territory is 6 square kilometers. The home range size of non-territorial zebras is sometimes as great as x,000 square kilometers. Grevy's zebras are extremely mobile and some individuals have been known to motion distances of greater than 80 kilometers. ("Grevy'south Zebra", 2004; Sundaresan, et al., 2007)

Communication and Perception

No two zebras have the same stripe pattern. Each individual zebra'southward stripe pattern acts as a blazon of fingerprint that allows information technology to be identified accurately by human researchers up to 90% of the time. This, along with aroma and individual vocalizations, allow individuals to be recognized by conspecifics.

Scent mark, particularly by females, plays a meaning role in convenance. Males frequently sniff the leavings of a female in order to determine if she is in estrous. Males use dung and urine in club to marker their territory.

Males use sounds and visual cues to affirm their dominance. They may exercise this by baring their teeth, flattening their ears, kicking, or biting other males. Territorial males oft harass females into breeding with them using these aforementioned techniques.

Grevy's zebras are very vocal, though not quite as vocal as plains zebras. Their vocabulary includes several distinct pitches. Individuals often emit these pitches when they are escaping predators or when they are fighting. ("Grevy'south Zebra Trust: Endangered Species", 2007; "Grevy'due south Zebra", 2004; Churcher, 1993)

visual
tactile
acoustic

smell marks

visual
tactile
acoustic
chemical

Food Habits

Grevy's zebras are herbivores and grazers with occasional browsing tendencies. They primarily consume tough grasses and forbs but, in the dry flavor when grasses are non every bit abundant, leaves can establish up to xxx per centum of their diet. Grevy's zebras tin assimilate many unlike types and parts of plants that cattle cannot. Grevy'due south zebras are h2o dependent and will often migrate to grasslands within daily reach of water. Almost Grevy's zebras can survive without water for upward to five days, just lactating females must drink at least every other twenty-four hour period in order to maintain good for you milk production. ("Grevy'due south Zebra Trust: Endangered Species", 2007; "Grevy'due south Zebra", 1999)

herbivore
- folivore

leaves

Predation

The stripes of Grevy's zebras may human activity equally camouflauge, especially at night. Zebras are often hard to spot from large distances at night. The stripes besides assistance to suspension up the outline of the animate being to predators and may help to camouflage them in tall grass. When in the same territory, Grevy'due south zebras band together in temporary social groups to provide protection from predators. ("Grevy'southward Zebra Trust: Endangered Species", 2007; Churcher, 1993)

ambiguous

Known Predators
- lions (Panthera leo)
- cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus)
- striped hyenas (Hyaena hyaena)
- African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus)
- leopards (Panthera pardus)

Ecosystem Roles

Grevy's zebras are big, grazing ungulates that feed on grasses and serve as prey for a number of big predators. They fill up a niche left open up betwixt arid-habitat loving wild asses and h2o-dependent plains zebras. ("Grevy'southward Zebra", 2004; Churcher, 1993)

Economic Importance for Humans: Positive

Grevy'south zebras accept a singled-out appearance and are a source of ecotourism involvement. Grevy'south zebras have been used as nutrient and a source of pelts in the past.

body parts are source of valuable material
ecotourism

Economic Importance for Humans: Negative

Equus grevyi may sometimes compete with domesticated cattle for resources on grazing lands.

Conservation Condition

A 5-yr conservation programme of the Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) was launched on June 25, 2008. This conservation programme aims to recover the population of Grevy's zebras, which declined from 15,000 in the 1970s to simply over two,500 in 2009. The plan suggests the demand for a monitoring system to guess the population size of Equus grevyi, to assess its condition, to track movements, and to determine the causes of mortality. In addition to this, local communities in Kenya are getting more involved in the conservation of Equus grevyi and Ethiopa has held two workshops regarding status and conservation. Equus grevyi was previously listed equally a game beast in Republic of kenya and is now being upgraded to a protected creature. Information technology is also listed equally protected in Ethiopia, although official protection has been express. (Depression, et al., 2009; Moehlman, et al., 2009; Muoria, et al., 2009)

IUCN Red List

Endangered
More information
IUCN Cerise List

Endangered
More information
Us Federal Listing

Threatened
CITES

Appendix I
State of Michigan Listing

No special status

Equus grevyi individuals tin can run at speeds of upwardly to 40 mph (64 kph). ("Grevy's Zebra", 2004)

Contributors

Alexis J. Hollingshead (author), Case Western Reserve University, Darin Croft (editor, instructor), Case Western Reserve University, Tanya Dewey (editor), Animal Diversity Web.

Glossary

Ethiopian

living in sub-Saharan Africa (south of 30 degrees due north) and Madagascar.

World Map

acoustic: uses audio to communicate

bilateral symmetry: having body symmetry such that the creature can exist divided in one aeroplane into 2 mirror-epitome halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry accept dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.

chemical: uses smells or other chemicals to communicate

cryptic: having markings, coloration, shapes, or other features that cause an animal to be camouflaged in its natural environment; being difficult to see or otherwise detect.

diurnal

agile during the day, 2. lasting for one solar day.

dominance hierarchies: ranking organisation or pecking order amidst members of a long-term social group, where potency status affects access to resources or mates

ecotourism: humans benefit economically past promoting tourism that focuses on the appreciation of natural areas or animals. Ecotourism implies that in that location are existing programs that profit from the appreciation of natural areas or animals.

endothermic: animals that use metabolically generated heat to regulate torso temperature independently of ambient temperature. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a (now extinct) synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds.

folivore: an animal that mainly eats leaves.

herbivore: An beast that eats mainly plants or parts of plants.

iteroparous: offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches, etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes).

motile: having the capacity to movement from one place to another.

native range: the surface area in which the brute is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.

nomadic: generally wanders from place to place, usually within a well-defined range.

polygynous: having more than ane female as a mate at one time

scent marks: communicates by producing scents from special gland(s) and placing them on a surface whether others can odour or taste them

sexual: reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female

social: assembly with others of its species; forms social groups.

tactile: uses touch to communicate

terrestrial: Living on the ground.

territorial: defends an area inside the home range, occupied past a single animals or group of animals of the aforementioned species and held through overt defence, display, or advertisement

threatened: The term is used in the 1994 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals to refer collectively to species categorized as Endangered (E), Vulnerable (V), Rare (R), Indeterminate (I), or Insufficiently Known (K) and in the 1996 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals to refer collectively to species categorized every bit Critically Endangered (CR), Endangered (EN), or Vulnerable (VU).

tropical: the region of the globe that surrounds the equator, from 23.5 degrees north to 23.5 degrees due south.

tropical savanna and grassland: A terrestrial biome. Savannas are grasslands with scattered private copse that do not form a closed canopy. Extensive savannas are found in parts of subtropical and tropical Africa and Due south America, and in Commonwealth of australia.
savanna: A grassland with scattered trees or scattered clumps of trees, a type of community intermediate between grassland and forest. Run into too Tropical savanna and grassland biome.
temperate grassland: A terrestrial biome establish in temperate latitudes (>23.5° Due north or South breadth). Vegetation is made up by and large of grasses, the height and species multifariousness of which depend largely on the amount of moisture available. Fire and grazing are important in the long-term maintenance of grasslands.

visual: uses sight to communicate

viviparous: reproduction in which fertilization and evolution take place within the female torso and the developing embryo derives nourishment from the female person.

yr-round breeding: convenance takes place throughout the year

young precocial: young are relatively well-developed when born

References

The Wild Classroom. 2003. "Equus Grevyi" (On-line). Biomes of the World. Accessed November 15, 2009 at http://www.thewildclassroom.com/biomes/speciesprofile/savanna/grevyszebra.html.

2007. "Grevy's Zebra Trust: Endangered Species" (On-line). Grevy'southward Zebra Trust. Accessed November 15, 2009 at http://world wide web.grevyszebratrust.org/.

American Wildlife Foundation. 2004. "Grevy's Zebra" (On-line). American Wild animals Foundation. Accessed November 15, 2009 at http://www.awf.org/content/wildlife/particular/grevyszebra.

Friends of the National Zoo. 1999. "Grevy'south Zebra" (On-line). Smithsonian National Zoological Park. Accessed November 15, 2009 at http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/AfricanSavanna/fact-gzebra.cfm.

Churcher, C. 1993. Mammalian Species. American Society of Mammalogists, 453: one-9. Accessed Nov 10, 2009 at http://www.jstor.org/stable/3504222.

Cordingley, J., Due south. Sundaresan, I. Fischhoff, B. Shapiro, J. Ruskey. 2009. Is the endangered Grevy's zebra threatened by hybridization?. Creature Conservation, Vol. 12 Consequence half dozen: 505-513. Accessed December 01, 2009 at http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=truthful&db=a9h&AN=45231153&site=ehost-alive.

Ginsberg, J., D. Rubenstein. 1990. Sperm Competition and Variation in Zebra Mating Behavior. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, Vol. 26: 427-434. Accessed Nov 10, 2009 at http://www.jstor.org/stable/4600432.

Low, B., S. Sundaresan, I. Fischhoff, D. Rubenstein. 2009. Partnering with local communities to place conservation priorities for endangered Grevy'south zebra. Biological Conservation, Vol. 142 Outcome vii: 1548-1555. Accessed November 10, 2009 at http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=38806267&site=ehost-live.

Moehlman, P., D. Rubenstein, F. Kebede. 2009. "IUCN Redlist of Threatened Species" (On-line). IUCN Redlist. Accessed November 23, 2009 at www.iucnredlist.org.

Muoria, P., P. Muruthi, P. Omondi, C. Mutua, J. Bernard, N. Oguge, J. King. 2009. Kenya launches national strategy to conserve Grevy'southward zebra.. Oryx, Vol. 43 Issue 2: 271-272. Accessed November x, 2009 at http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=39795368&site=ehost-live.

Sundaresan, S., I. Fischhoff, H. Hartung, P. Akilong, D. Rubenstein. 2008. Habitat choice of Grevy's zebras ( Equus grevyi) in Laikipia, Kenya.. African Journal of Ecology, Vol. 46 Result 3: 359-364. Accessed November ten, 2009 at http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=34038297&site=ehost-live.

Sundaresan, S., I. Fischhoff, D. Rubenstein. 2007. Male person harassment influences female movements and associations in Grevys zebra (Equus grevyi).. Behavioral Ecology, Vol. 18 Issue five: 860. Accessed Nov x, 2009 at http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=26420265&site=ehost-alive.

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Source: https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Equus_grevyi/