The Quagga Project is an attempt by a group in South Africa to use

selective breeding Selective breeding (also called artificial selection) is the process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to selectively develop particular phenotypic traits (characteristics) by choosing which typically animal or plant m ...

to achieve a breeding lineage of

Burchell's zebra Burchell's zebra (''Equus quagga burchellii'') is a southern subspecies of the plains zebra. It is named after the British explorer and naturalist William John Burchell. Common names include bontequagga, Damaraland zebra, and Zululand zebra (Gray ...

(''Equus quagga burchellii'') which visually resemble the extinct

quagga The quagga ( or ) (''Equus quagga quagga'') is an extinct subspecies of the plains zebra that was endemic to South Africa until it was hunted to extinction in the late 19th century. It was long thought to be a distinct species, but mtDNA ...

(''Equus quagga quagga'').

History

In 1955,

Lutz Heck Ludwig Georg Heinrich Heck, called Lutz Heck (23 April 1892 in Berlin, German Empire – 6 April 1983 in Wiesbaden, West Germany) was a German zoologist, animal researcher, animal book author and director of the Berlin Zoological Garden where he ...

suggested in his book ' that careful selective breeding with the plains zebra could produce an animal resembling the extinct quagga: a zebra with reduced striping and a brownish basic colour. In 1971, Reinhold Rau visited various museums in Europe to examine the quagga specimens in their collections and decided to attempt to re-breed the quagga. Rau later contacted several zoologists and park authorities, but they were on the whole negative because the quagga has left no living descendants, and thus the genetic composition of this animal is not present in living zebras. Rau did not abandon his re-breeding proposal, as he considered the quagga to be a subspecies of the plains zebra. In 1984, molecular studies of

mitochondrial DNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA and mDNA) is the DNA located in the mitochondrion, mitochondria organelles in a eukaryotic cell that converts chemical energy from food into adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA is a small portion of the D ...

of a quagga indicated that it was indeed a subspecies of the plains zebra. After the DNA examination results appeared in publications from 1984 onward, gradually a more positive attitude was taken towards the quagga re-breeding proposal. In March 1986, the project committee was formed after influential persons became involved. During March 1987, nine zebras were selected and captured at the

Etosha National Park Etosha National Park is a national park in northwestern Namibia and one of the largest national parks in Africa. It was proclaimed a game reserve in March 1907 in Ordinance 88 by the Governor of German South West Africa, Friedrich von Lindequist. ...

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

. On 24 April 1987, these zebras were brought to the specially constructed breeding camp complex at the Nature Conservation farm "Vrolijkheid" near Robertson, South Africa. This marked the start of the quagga re-breeding project. Additional zebras were selected for the lightness of their stripes and incorporated into the project to increase the rate at which the zebras lost their stripes. Some of the zebras of the project that failed to develop the more quagga-like physical traits were released into the Addo Elephant National Park. After the number of zebras increased, the Quagga Project had to abandon the "Vrolijkheid" farm. In October 1992, six zebras were moved to land that had sufficient natural grazing. This would reduce the cost of feeding. In 1993, the remaining zebras were moved to two additional sites. On 29 June 2000, the Quagga Project Association, represented by its chairman Mike Cluver and South African National Parks by its then CEO Mavuso Msimang, signed a co-operation agreement. This agreement changed the Quagga Project from a private initiative to an officially recognized and logistically supported project.

Project milestones

The Project's first foal was born on 9 December 1988. On 20 January 2005, Henry, the first foal with a visible reduced striping considered to be quagga-like, was born. The first 5th generation foal was born in December 2013. It has been proposed that those individuals with the most reduced stripe patterns should be called "Rau quaggas", both to acknowledge Reinhold Rau's contribution to the project and to distinguish the new animals from the original, extinct strain. In March 2016, the Quagga Project listed 116 animals in 10 locations, some of which are close to

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

. Of the 116 animals, currently six individuals show a strongly reduced stripe pattern. The goal is to have a population of about 50 such zebras and move them to a protected area within their former natural habitat. The current individuals with a stripe pattern resembling the quagga are named Henry, Freddy, DJ14, Nina J, FD15, and Khumba.

References

External links

The Quagga Project

The Quagga Project – Revival of the Quagga

{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080917134259/http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/horsetigers/quagga.html , date=17 September 2008
Quagga Quest. Can we bring back a long-extinct animal?
(Slate)
Real Life Jurassic Park? Scientists claim to 'restore' extinct zebra
(ABC News)

Nature conservation in South Africa Extinction Articles containing video clips

History

Project milestones

See also

References

External links