GONE FOREVER

The quagga mare lifted her head and swiveled her ears to pick up sounds that might warn of impending danger.Mingled among the other quaggas were wildebeests and ostriches.The quaggas’ acute hearing coupled with the wildebeests’ excellent sense of smell and the ostriches’ sharp eyesight formed a cooperation that kept the immense communal herd aware of nearby predators.They feared the lion most of all.The quaggas couldn’t know that the appearance of man on the plains would spell disaster for them forever.Forever?

NAMED FOR ITS SOUND

The quagga, pronounced “kwagga,” was named by the Hottentot (now called the Khokhoi) peoples of southern Africa.These natives of the Cape Colony referred to the partially striped zebra as “Quahah,” referring to the animal’s call.In this area, it was the only zebra on the plains.

Quaggas roamed the plains of the old Cape Colony veldt and, to an extent, the Orange Free State.The quagga differed from the other zebras in that the body color was mostly a light reddish-brown.The head, neck, and forequarters were marked with dark chocolate-brown stripes that grew faint and disappeared altogether at around the middle of its body.Some quaggas had vague mottlings or remnants of stripes on their backs.Although the zebra stripes were absent on the rear quarters, the dorsal stripe ran down the full length of the back.The legs and lower parts of the body were solid white to cream-colored.The mane was short and upright.

In the 1830’s, quaggas became popular in England as harness animals.They were easily tamed and said to have good mouths.Sheriff Parkins of London owned a pair of quaggas that pulled his carriage.

Around 1836, the Voor Trekkers, or Boers - a Dutch term meaning farmers - began their journey from the Cape Colony to escape British rule.The Boers had originally founded the colony, having been sent by the Dutch East India Company to set up a supply base there.

The quaggas that swarmed the plains of the Cape Colony began their descent in the 1840’s.The animal alliance among the plains herds was defeated as the Boers hunted the quaggas from horseback with firearms.The quagga was a readily available source of food for the Boers’ native servants who favored the large amounts of yellow fat that quagga meat contained.Quaggas were shot by the thousands, much like the American bison, only with more dire consequences.Some escaped death and were captured to be used as guard animals for the Boers’ livestock.The quaggas’ call warned of nearby predators.<![endif]>

QUAGGA SKINS FIND A MARKET

In addition to farming, the Boers had a booming hide business.The strong quagga skins were used for fruit sacks, as belts for steam engines, and as shoe leather.The quagga skin fruit sacks were still in use even after the quagga disappeared from the plains in the late 1870’s.Their demise had taken about 30 years.

Several unsuccessful attempts were made by zoos to keep the species.One zoo had acquired a quagga stallion to start a breeding program, but he repeatedly hurled himself against the walls of his enclosure.He injured himself so severely that he had to be destroyed.Sadly, the quagga became extinct on August 12, 1883, when the last mare died at the Amsterdam Zoo.She had been a part of the zoo for 16 years. <![endif]>

There has long been speculation as to just what type of equid the quagga was.Some felt it was more horse-like than the zebra; others suggested it was more ass-like.Still others felt it was a totally separate species.Each had their own opinion and argued vehemently against any other ideas.

In later years, it was realized that the northern version of the plains zebra was more vividly marked than that of the southern region.This phenomenon is known as geographic color variations.

Every now and then there would be “quagga sightings” but these animals were found to be aberrantly marked plains zebras or crosses between feral asses and zebras.

Since the loss of the quagga, there remained 23 mounted specimens, some skeletons, skulls and other assorted bones in the museums of several countries.

AN ACCIDENTAL DISCOVERY

In 1969, Reinhold E. Rau, the chief taxidermist of the South African Museum, began a long and tedious process of dismantling a quagga foal for remounting.It had been crudely mounted in 1859 and is the only documented quagga skin in South Africa.During the dismantling procedure, Mr. Rau discovered that the quagga foal’s skin had been improperly fleshed and tanned when it was originally prepared for mounting.Dried out muscle tissue was still attached to the skin, as were blood vessels that still contained dried blood.Mr. Rau removed and saved the tissue in the hope that it could be scientifically studied.Unfortunately, there were no cytological tests available at that time that would solve the quagga mystery.

In 1980, Mr. Rau was asked to remount three quaggas and a plains zebra at the Natural Museum in Mainz, West Germany.The quagga mounts were dated 1842 and again Mr. Rau was able to save tissue from the skins.

In 1981, a geneticist, Oliver A. Ryder of the San Diego Zoo in California, asked to test the quagga tissues.He shared the material with Russell Higuchi of the University of California at Berkeley, and with Jerold M. Lowenstein of the University of California at San Francisco.

The scientists applied different molecular biochemical methods to their tests.Mitochondrial DNA from the quagga tissue was cloned and sequenced, and immunological comparisons were also made.<![endif]>

Comparisons with mitochondrial DNA of other plains zebras showed that the quagga was practically identical.Similar results were obtained with the immunological studies.These studies strongly suggest that the quagga was the same species as the other plains zebras.