Plains zebra
Equus quagga Boddaert, 1785
The plains zebra (Equus quagga) is a mammal in the family Equidae and the order Perissodactyla, named by Boddaert, 1785. It falls in the giant size class, with a representative adult body mass of 400 kg.
Quick facts about the plains zebra
A terrestrial, cathemeral herbivore, its main foods are cenchrus ciliaris, cynodon dactylon, eragrostis superba and themeda triandra. The IUCN lists it as Near Threatened, which is not a threatened category; gestation lasts 365.3 days and a litter has 1 young.
- Weight
- 275.5 kg – 400 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 20.7 years – 38 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 40 years
- Main food
- cenchrus ciliaris, cynodon dactylon, eragrostis superba, themeda triandrasrc for Main food
- Habitat
- grassland, woodlandsrc for Habitat
- Gestation
- 365 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 2.47 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 0.6 – 0.62src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- Day and night (cathemeral)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Near Threatened (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the plains zebra
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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2 more photos exist under a licence we cannot display: view at source, view at source.
Where does the plains zebra live?
Not recorded
What is the plains zebra?
The plains zebra (Equus quagga, formerly Equus burchellii) is the most common and geographically widespread species of zebra. Its range is fragmented, but spans much of southern and eastern Africa south of the Sahara. Six or seven subspecies have been recognised, including the quagga which was thought to be a separate species. More recent research supports variations in zebra populations being clines rather than subspecies.
Plains zebras are intermediate in size between the larger Grévy's zebra and the smaller mountain zebra and tend to have broader stripes than both. Great variation in coat patterns exists between clines and individuals. The plains zebra's habitat is generally, but not exclusively, treeless grasslands and savanna woodlands, both tropical and temperate. They generally avoid desert, dense rainforest and permanent wetlands. Zebras are preyed upon by lions and spotted hyenas, Nile crocodiles and, to a lesser extent, leopards, cheetahs and African wild dogs.
Plains zebras are a highly social species, forming harems with a single stallion, several mares and their recent offspring; bachelor groups also form. Groups may come together to form herds. The animals keep watch for predators; they bark or snort when they see a predator and the harem stallion attacks predators to defend his harem.
The plains zebra remains common in game reserves, but is threatened by human activities, such as hunting for its meat and hide, as well as competition with livestock and encroachment by farming on much of its habitat. The loss of open grasslands due to woody plant encroachment increases predation risk and therewith habitat. Plains zebra are listed as near threatened by the IUCN as of 2016. The species population is stable and not endangered, though populations in most countries have declined sharply.
From the Wikipedia article “Plains zebra” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plains_zebra&oldid=1378842863), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the plains zebra endangered?
The plains zebra is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List: it is close to qualifying as threatened.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Near Threatened species.
How is the plains zebra classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderPerissodactyla
- familyEquidae
- genusEquus
- SpeciesEquus quagga Boddaert, 1785
Synonyms Equus burchellii, Eqvus quagga
Other names and names in other languages (85)
- Burchell's zebraEnglish
- Burchell's zebraEnglish
- Chapman's zebraEnglish
- Chapman's zebraEnglish
- Common zebraEnglish
- Common zebraEnglish
- Crawshay's zebraEnglish
- Crawshay's zebraEnglish
- Damara zebraEnglish
- Damara zebraEnglish
- Grant's zebraEnglish
- Grant's zebraEnglish
- Painted zebraEnglish
- Painted zebraEnglish
- QuaggaEnglish
- QuaggaEnglish
- Zambezi zebraEnglish
- Zambezi zebraEnglish
- BontsebraAfrikaans
- BontkwaggaAfrikaans
- VlaktesebraAfrikaans
- حمار الزرد السهليArabic
- Равнинна зебраBulgarian
- Roudenneg ar stepennoùBreton
- Zebra comunaCatalan
- Zebra stepníCzech
- Almindelig zebraDanish
- PferdezebraGerman
- SteppenzebraGerman
- Κοινή ΖέβραGreek
- Savana ZebroEsperanto
- Cebra de SabanaSpanish
- KvaggaEstonian
- Zebra arruntBasque
- AroseepraFinnish
- savanniseepraFinnish
- Zèbre des PlainesFrench
- Le Zèbre de BurchellFrench
- Le Zèbre de SteppeFrench
- GäärslunseebraNorthern Frisian
- זברה מצויהHebrew
- Stepska zebraCroatian
- dongo.kohts
- alföldi zebraHungarian
- Սավաննայի վագերաձիArmenian
- Zebra di pianuraItalian
- サバンナシマウマJapanese
- A̱ka̱za̱nki-a̱yitTyap
- 사바나얼룩말Korean
- HippotigrisLatin
- ngololch
- KvagaLithuanian
- Savaninis zebrasLithuanian
- ntulegeGanda
- Līdzenumu zebraLatvian
- Обична зебраMacedonian
- SteppesebraNorwegian Bokmål
- SteppezebraDutch
- Gewone ZebraDutch
- mbizinmq
- pitse e tilodiNorthern Sotho
- Zebra stepowaPolish
- Zebra-das-planíciesPortuguese
- Zebra-comumPortuguese
- Zebra-de-planíciePortuguese
- Бурчеллова зебраRussian
- stäppzebraSwedish
- vanlig zebraSwedish
- Punda MiliaSwahili
- வரி குதுரைTamil
- ม้าลายธรรมดาThai
- Ova ZebrasıTurkish
- Bayağı ZebraTurkish
- Pitse ea nagaTswana
- pitse e tilotswanaTswana
- Pitse ya nagaTswana
- MangwaTsonga
- Зебра саваннаUkrainian
- Зебра бурчелловаUkrainian
- Рівнинна зебраUkrainian
- Ngựa vằnVietnamese
- DubeXhosa
- 平原斑馬Chinese
- 平原斑馬 (普通斑馬)Chinese
- IdubeZulu
Relatives of the plains zebra
Other species in the same genus Equus.
Onager
Equus hemionus
Wild horse
Equus ferus
Grévy's zebra
Equus grevyi
Mountain zebra
Equus zebra
African wild ass
Equus africanus
Kiang
Equus kiang
ComparePlains zebra vs OnagerPlains zebra vs Wild horsePlains zebra vs Grévy's zebraPlains zebra vs Mountain zebra
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
How heavy is a plains zebra?
The plains zebra has a representative adult body mass of 400 kg, placing it in the giant size class.
What does the plains zebra eat?
It is a herbivore whose main foods are cenchrus ciliaris, cynodon dactylon, eragrostis superba and themeda triandra.
Is the plains zebra endangered?
No. The IUCN Red List classes it as Near Threatened (NT), which is not a threatened category.
How long does a plains zebra live?
Its lifespan is 20.65 years, and the highest value reported by our sources is 40 years.
How long is the plains zebra's pregnancy?
Gestation lasts 365.3 days, or 1 year, and each litter has 1 young.
What kind of animal is the plains zebra?
It is a mammal in the family Equidae, order Perissodactyla and genus Equus.
Who named the plains zebra?
The scientific name Equus quagga is attributed to Boddaert, 1785.
What other names does the plains zebra have?
Other English names are Quagga, Damara zebra, Common zebra, Zambezi zebra and Grant's zebra.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Plains zebra (Equus quagga). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/plains-zebra
“Plains zebra (Equus quagga).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/plains-zebra.
@misc{plains_zebra_2026,
title = {Plains zebra (Equus quagga)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/plains-zebra},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}