Equus quagga quagga (Quagga)

[another specialist]

A joint job then you and your computer.

[Peter]

vsa01 said:

I know you take contributions, if you think the image would add something to the main Quagga page on the website you are more than welcome to use it, Just drop me a pm. I can provide it up to a maximum size of A3.

Hi Jon, welcome to the forum! Indeed a wonderfull image and thank you for your offer to use it on the main Quagga page on the website (I'll keep it in mind). I also saw the image of the Bubal Hartebeest and I'm looking forward in seeing more... ;D

Peter

[another specialist]

flickr.com/photos/saxsbiker/133647808/

[Carlos]

Is this the quagga foal preserved in South Africa?

[another specialist]

carlos said:

Is this the quagga foal preserved in South Africa?

Not sure no description was with image.

[another specialist]

They had a section of extinct and endangered animals, including the sadly destroyed quagga, Paul's favourite extinct animal. He was excited and sad in equal measure to see a real one at last!

flickr.com/photos/bitospud/43002133/

[Carlos]

anotherspecialist said:

carlos said:

Is this the quagga foal preserved in South Africa?

Not sure no description was with image.

I've checked the photo collection posted by that person (saxbiker) and all of them have been taken around CapeTown, so it must be the one remounted by the late Reinhold Rau, the starter of the Quagga Project. Besides, if I remember well, i think that this is the only quagga foal that has been preserved.

[another specialist]

Thanks Carlos for the update above.

What about the one in the Tring Museum i can remember seeing one there when i was a child but my memory can't remember if it was a true quagga or a hybrid/crossbred foal?

[sebbe67]

carlos said:

anotherspecialist said:

Not sure no description was with image.

I've checked the photo collection posted by that person (saxbiker) and all of them have been taken around CapeTown, so it must be the one remounted by the late Reinhold Rau, the starter of the Quagga Project. Besides, if I remember well, i think that this is the only quagga foal that has been preserved.

I think there is a few more preserved foals around the world, I saw one in terrible condition in the Natural history museum of Sweden a few years ago

[another specialist]

i agree with you sebbe67 as I've seen a few myself.

[Peter]

All the preserved mounted skins of the quagga can be found at:
media1.mweb.co.za/quaggaproject/mounted.htm.

Info on the mounted quagga foal (first photo posted by another specialist on 6 Feb, 2007, 18:40):

Cape Town Quagga Foal

Catalogue number : SAM 35575

Sex: female, foal

Locality: Nelspoort, Beaufort West District, Cape Province

Date of acquisition: 1857-60

Remarks on acquisition: donated by A.Dale of Camphersskraal, Nelspoort; animal lived one week after capture

History of mount: stuffed with hemp and clay at the South African Museum; remounted by dermo-sculptor R.Rau 1969/70

Measurements:
head - body 1,240 m
tail 0,280 m
ear 0,123 m
hindfoot 0,390 m
shoulder height 0,770 m

State of preservation: good partly moth-eaten

Further material of same individual: skull, footbones and fleshy parts of skin, all removed during re-mounting , in collection

References: Renshaw (1904, 1909); Ridgeway (1909); Antonius (1931); Shortridge (1934)

Source: media1.mweb.co.za/quaggaproject/ctownqua.htm.

I'm not sure yet on the other specimen, but I will have a better look.

[Peter]

The second photo is of the specimen in Paris:

Paris Quagga
Catalogue number : not registered

Sex: male

Locality: Cape Colony

Date of acquisition: probably 1798

History of mount: original mount, mainly of wood

Measurements:
head - body 1,93 m
tail 0,29 m
ear 0,15 m
hindfoot 0,43 m
shoulder height 1,18 m

State of preservation: good

Further material of same individual: there is an articulated skeleton (No A544) labelled "Quagga" in the Department of Comparative Anatomy, Paris Museum. It is not certain whether it belongs to the skin.

References: Desmarest (1820); Renshaw (1904); Trouessart (1906); Pocock (1907); Ridgeway (1909); Griffini (1913); Dorst (1952)

Source: media1.mweb.co.za/quaggaproject/paris.htm.

[Peter]

sebbe67 said:

carlos said:

I've checked the photo collection posted by that person (saxbiker) and all of them have been taken around CapeTown, so it must be the one remounted by the late Reinhold Rau, the starter of the Quagga Project. Besides, if I remember well, i think that this is the only quagga foal that has been preserved.

I think there is a few more preserved foals around the world, I saw one in terrible condition in the Natural history museum of Sweden a few years ago

Well, the Stockholm specimen is a foetus! Another foetus is in Mainz. The only true foal is the one in Cape Town.

Stockholm Quagga
Catalogue number : Mam Ex. 14

Sex: foetus

Locality: Cape Colony

Date of acquisition: 1775 Remarks on acquisition: brought to Sweden by A. Sparrman

History of mount: original mount of straw; repairs with two hand-sized white leather patches might be of a later date.

Measurements:
head - body 1,93 m
tail 0,29 m
ear 0,15 m
hindfoot 0,43 m
shoulder height 1,18 m

State of preservation: fair, mane almost lost

Further material of same individual: -

References: Renshaw (1904); Ridgeway (1909); Lonnberg (1910); Antonius (1931)

Source: media1.mweb.co.za/quaggaproject/stockhol.htm.

[another specialist]

A foal can be found here also

Mainz Quagga foal

Catalogue number : 1955/14

Sex: foal

Locality:

Date of acquisition: 1840-50 (Hilzheimer 1912)

History of mount: original mount

Measurements:

head from upper lip to between ears, straight


0,245 m

tail


0,190 m

hindfoot


0,285 m

height at rump


0,630 m

State of preservation: fair, partly destroyed by fire

Further material of same individual: skull inside mount (occipital burnt)

References: Hilzheimer (1912); Schwartz (1912); Antonius (1931)

media1.mweb.co.za/quaggaproject/mainz3.htm

[another specialist]

anotherspecialist said:

Thanks Carlos for the update above.

What about the one in the Tring Museum i can remember seeing one there when i was a child but my memory can't remember if it was a true quagga or a hybrid/crossbred foal?

It's a hybrid



Author: Sarah Hartwell (Messybeast.com). Own work. Quagga specimen (with zebra-horse hybrid foal in same case) on display at Rothschild Zoological Museum, Tring, England.

www.answers.com/topic/quagga-tring-jpg

[Carlos]

So, all in all, only two foals have been preserved, at Cape Town and at Mainz (plus a couple of badly preserved foetus).

The Mainz specimen is partially burned, so the only well preserved is the one in Cape Town (skin remounted and skull and leg bones removed from the original mounting).

A very sad wreckage!!!

[another specialist]

It is pretty sad I agree with you Carlos

[Melanie]

All these pictures appears also in the book London Zoo from Old Photographs by John Edwards (1996).

rsn said:

Images on Arkive (http://www.arkive.org):







A poster about quagga:



Equus quagga quagga Boddaert, 1785 (Mammalia - Equidae)

Informations

Status

Classified as Extinct (EX) by the IUCN Red List 2002 (1).

Description

The quagga roamed the plains of South Africa until the late 19th Century when it became extinct. There is some debate as to whether the quagga represented a separate species of zebra or merely a subspecies of the plains zebra (Equus burchelli), which survives today (1). However Quaggas, with their dark stripes on the head and neck merging into brown coloured hindquarters (2) and pale legs devoid of stripes (3), looked quite distinctive compared to the zebras that we recognise today (2). As with other zebra species, the patterns of the stripes were unique to each individual (2).

Range

Quaggas were found in the Karoo and southern Free State of South Africa, the date of the disappearance of the last wild animal is unknown but the final quagga died at the Artis Magistra Zoo in Amsterdam in 1883.

Habitat

Previously found in the arid and temperate grasslands of South Africa.

Biology

In common with the plains zebra it is likely that quaggas were found in groups, known as harems, consisting of a number of adult females and led by a dominant male (2). Both males and females leave their natal group when they reach sexual maturity; the composition of adult harems is relatively stable over time with strong social bonds between individuals (4). Foals were born year-round although there appeared to be a peak season in early summer, from December to January (2).

As with other equid species, the quagga diet consisted primarily of grasses. Herds tended to migrate to longer grass pastures during the day to feed, returning to areas of shorter grass at night where potential predators had less cover (2).

Threats

South Africa became renowned for hunting in the 19th Century, and was known as a 'hunters paradise' (3). Many species, including the quagga, were persecuted for sport and to supply the leather trade with unusual hides (3). In addition, on the sparse, dry grasslands of the Karoo, farmers regarded the quagga as a serious competitor for grazing land with introduced sheep and cattle. During this time, the term 'quagga' in Afrikaans was used for all zebras, and this produced confusion; the uniqueness of this particular zebra was not fully recognised until it was too late (3).

Conservation

A controversial plan to 'retrieve' the quagga is now being carried out in South Africa by the Quagga Project (3). In 1984, evidence was published from the analysis of mitochondrial DNA (preserved on a museum specimen), which suggested that the extinct 'quagga' was in fact a subspecies of the plains zebra (Equus burchelli), rather than a distinct species (3). This added fresh hope to the idea that selective breeding of particular plains zebras would lead eventually to an animal resembling the long-lost quagga in appearance. Under the leadership of Reinhold Rau, the project began in earnest in 1987; the second generation of foals have now been successfully reared and some of these do have unusual coat patterns. Some authorities criticize the project for appearing to demonstrate that it is possible to bring a species back from extinction. However, proponents believe that a high profile project, which involves the return of these zebras to the grasslands where quaggas once roamed, may help to raise awareness of the importance of the fragile Karoo grassland of Southern Africa .

Source:
www.arkive.org/species/GES/mammals/Equus_quagga/more_info.html

[another specialist]

Is there any others or just the above?

[Melanie]

There are only 5 photographs of the living London Quagga. Above you can see 3.