Plains zebra

Zebras eat grass.

They nibble grass with their strong front teeth. They eat for many hours every day. They also need to drink water.

Zebras are grazers: they eat mostly grass, with a few leaves and stems when grass is scarce. Their strong front teeth clip the grass, and big flat back teeth grind it down.

Unlike many grazers, zebras can eat tall, tough grass. They often move into an area first and munch the long tops. That opens up the shorter, leafier grass below for wildebeest and gazelles that come after them. Zebras must drink often, so herds stay near rivers and water holes.

Plains zebras are bulk grazers with strong upper and lower incisors for cropping and high-crowned cheek teeth that resist wear from silica-rich grasses. Like horses they are hindgut fermenters: symbiotic bacteria in the cecum, a pouch of the gut beyond the stomach, break down cellulose. This lets them process large amounts of lower-quality forage quickly, a trade-off that requires long hours of feeding.

The African Wildlife Foundation describes them as 'pioneer grazers': by removing coarse, tall growth they prepare pastures for more selective grazers such as wildebeest. Because they depend on surface water, their movements in the dry season track water holes and rivers, and herds walk long distances between grazing grounds and water.

Zebras live in families.

A family has a dad, some moms and their foals. Zebras groom each other with gentle nibbles. When danger comes, they run away together.

A plains zebra family, called a harem, has one stallion, a few mares and their foals. The family stays together for years, even while thousands of zebras gather in big herds around them.

Zebras talk with barks, brays, snorts and their faces. Ears pinned back mean 'watch out'. Friends groom each other by standing side by side and nibbling each other's necks and backs. When a lion is spotted, the stallion often stays at the back, between the danger and his family.

Plains zebras live in stable harems of one stallion, usually one to six mares and their young. The bonds among the mares are the core of the group, and the harem stays together even if the stallion is replaced. Bachelor males form separate groups. In some seasons many harems gather into herds of hundreds or thousands, yet each family stays together within the crowd.

Communication combines calls, including an alarm call, with ear, eye and mouth postures. Mutual grooming strengthens bonds. Zebras often mix with wildebeest and other grazers, and these mixed herds may gain from more eyes watching for predators. At night most of the group rests while at least one animal stays standing and alert.

There are still many plains zebras.

But their homes are getting smaller. People are making safe paths so zebras can travel between parks.

Plains zebras are still common, but there are fewer of them than before. Farms and settlements take over their grasslands, livestock eats the same grass, and some zebras are hunted for meat and skins.

The IUCN lists the plains zebra as Near Threatened. Conservation groups protect wildlife corridors, wide strips of land that let zebras travel from one park to another and follow the rains. Protecting these journeys is just as important as protecting the zebras themselves.

The IUCN's 2016 assessment lists the plains zebra as Near Threatened, with an estimated 150,000 to 250,000 mature individuals and a decreasing trend. Threats are habitat loss from settlement and agriculture, worst in the south of the range, competition with livestock for grass and water, and hunting for meat and skins, worst in the north.

Britannica points out that the species' large-scale migrations are themselves an endangered behavior: the routes can be lost long before the animals become rare. Wildlife corridors that link protected areas, and agreements that help herders and wildlife share rangelands, are therefore central to conservation. The fate of the quagga is a reminder of how quickly a common animal can be lost.