Today in History: The world’s last quagga dies in a zoo in Amsterdam
The last wild quagga was probably shot in the late 1870s
On Sunday, 12 August 1883, the last quagga in the world died in a zoo in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The name ‘quagga’ is derived from a Khoikhoi word for ‘zebra’ and is said to resemble the quagga’s call.
The quagga once roamed freely in the pastures of the Karoo and the southern Free State. They could not be tamed and the settlers began to view them as pests, hunting them for their meat and their skin, which was used as leather.
Aggressive hunting by the settlers is the main reason for the extinction of the wild quagga, the last of which was probably shot in the late 1870s.
It differed in appearance from the zebra in that it was striped on the front half of its body only. The upper part of its body was a creamy, light brown, while its belly and legs were whitish.
It was revealed by scientific research that the quagga was not a species in its own right, but one of the ‘Plains zebra’ subspecies.
A team of South Africans have been working since 1987 to recreate the quagga by selective breeding from ‘Plains zebra’ stock, aiming to eventually reintroduce them to the wild.
This project has been highly successful, with Henry, the most quagga-like foal so far, being born on 20 January 2005.
Information sourced from: South African History Online.
