Mountain Zebra, (Equus zebra).—This species has been nearly exterminated by man, and is rarely seen in captivity. It inhabits the mountains of Cape Colony, and it is estimated that only 400 individuals remain, which now are carefully protected.
PRJEVALSKY HORSES.
Grevy Zebra, (Equus grevyi).—This picturesque species was discovered in Abyssinia, when Jules Grevy was president of France, and it was named in his honor. It is of large size, covered with very narrow stripes all over its body, head and limbs, and its huge ears are of remarkable form. This species is limited to southern Abyssinia and British East Africa southward to the Tana River.
Grant Zebra, (Equus burchelli granti).—Of all the zebras now seen in captivity, the great majority belong to what very properly may be designated as the group of Burchell Zebras. This group contains, besides the type species, which has practically no stripes on its legs, four subspecies, whose legs are more or less striped, and which may or may not possess “shadow stripes” on the hind-quarters. A “shadow stripe” is a faint, dark stripe in the middle of a wide white or pale yellow stripe which lies between two broad black stripes.
Grant Zebra is the most heavily striped of the subspecies composing the Burchell group. The visitor will observe that its horizontal leg-stripes are very pronounced, and so numerous that they are carried quite down to the hoofs. The ground-color of the animal is a cold white, and the thigh and body stripes are very wide and intense. This fine pair was captured in Masailand, East Africa, in 1902.
Chapman Zebra, (Equus burchelli chapmani), also belongs to the Burchell group, and in its color pattern it approaches quite nearly to the type. The legs of the male bear a few stripes, those of the female almost none. There are visible on the hind-quarters of the female a few faint shadow-stripes.
The Persian Wild Ass, (Equus persicus), is a very satisfactory representative of the wild asses generally. Its dorsal-stripe is very wide and sharply defined, but it bears no shoulder-stripe, and those that are faintly indicated on its legs are nothing more than oblong blotches of dark color. As its name implies, it inhabits Persia, and Syria, and a closely related form, the Onager, (E. onager), is found in Beluchistan and western India. A third species, the Kiang (E. hemionus), is found on the plains of Tibet.
THE ASIATIC AND EUROPEAN DEER, Nos. 1-3.
In representatives of the deer, (Family Cervidae), Asia far surpasses all other countries. Her species number about 38,—fully double that of any other continental area,—and from the great Altai wapiti to the tiny musk deer, the variations in size and form are fairly bewildering. The entire hill that rises between the Fordham Entrance and Bird Valley, from Cope Lake to the Zebra Houses, is devoted to the series of houses, corrals and ranges that are occupied by the deer of Asia and Europe.