Zebra Hunting in South Africa

• Every zebra has a unique pattern of black and white stripes. And scientists can use the patterns like bar codes to identify individuals in a herd and keep track of them over time.

• For a long time, scientists have wondered why zebras have stripes. According to one theory, stripes confuse predators, making it harder for a lion to pick out an individual zebra from a stampeding herd.

• Recently some scientists believe that stripes keep zebras cooler. The dark stripes soak up more sunlight than the light ones, which stirs up eddies of wind that swirl heat away.

• Also, researchers have discovered that biting flies avoid striped patterns. The two theories might be linked as biting flies prefer hot temperatures, so they may be less likely to bite a cooler zebra.

• One of the three zebra species, the mountain zebra, was nearly extinct in South Africa but was saved by a farmer’s group.

• It has incredibly hard, sharp hooves that help it negotiate in difficult, rugged terrain.

• And while this wild critter can’t grow a mountain man beard, it does have a bizarre, prominent neck flap called a dewlap.

• A distinctive subspecies of the plains zebra, the quagga was mostly yellow-brown and un-striped below its shoulders.

• Native to South Africa, it was driven to extinction by European settlers and hunters. The last quagga died at the Amsterdam Zoo in 1883.

• Zebras can breed with the horse family. The offspring come in a fantastic variety of semi-striped patterns and are usually infertile.

• Burchell Zebra safari-style hunting can be done across South Africa.

• Zebra often associate with blue wildebeest.

Description of Zebra for hunting

The unique stripes of zebras make them one of the animals most familiar to people. They occur in various habitats, such as grasslands, savannas, woodlands, thorny scrublands, mountains, and coastal hills.

Zebras have excellent eyesight. The Zebra’s eyes are on the sides of its head, giving it a wide field of view.

They also have night vision but are not as advanced as most of their predators. Zebras have excellent hearing due to large, rounded ears and can turn their ears in almost any direction.

In addition to superb eyesight and hearing, zebras also have an acute sense of smell.

The eyesight of Zebra can make zebra hunting challenging.

Highly social, Zebra live in groups, called a dazzle, herd, or zeal—stallions keep harems up to six mares and their foals.

Bachelor males live alone or form bachelors until they are old enough to challenge a breeding stallion.

Information for Zebra hunting

The common plains zebra is about 47–51 inches at the shoulder. It can weigh up to 700 – 900 pounds, males being slightly bigger than females.

• Plains zebras are the smallest and the most abundant, and the most numerous of all the wild members of the horse family. They roam across much of southeastern Africa.

• Plains zebras come in all sorts of subspecies and coat variations. For example, the further south you travel across Africa, the plains zebras will have fewer stripes on their legs. Nobody’s sure why, but it may have something to do with the temperature or populations of those biting flies.

• Found in Kenya and Ethiopia, Grevy’s zebras have a more donkey-like shape, with huge round ears. The Grevy’s zebra is the largest wild horse family member and can weigh up to 990 pounds.

Your Zebra trophy should have an average shoulder height of around 50 inches and weigh about 800 pounds.

Zebra has been reintroduced into the Eastern Cape and is not genuinely free-ranging. Standard cattle and sheep fences impede the movement of a zebra.

Zebra are relatively widely spread across the Eastern Cape. Hunts are conducted mainly using ambush techniques in open country and walk and stalk techniques.

We offer the opportunity to hunt Zebra in several plains game packages.

Hunting Trophy Zebra can prove difficult, as judging stallions from mares can be challenging. Hunting is done by spot and stalk.

Although the mares choose the dominant stallion, the stallion will assume his position at the back of a retreating herd, thus being closer to the point of danger, often stopping to look back.

Zebra is very resilient and tough and likely will require a follow-up shot.

Zebra provides the ideal add-on to one of our packages, such as the kudu- nyala game hunts package.

Zebra is a remarkably tough animal. Shot placement is vital, and a poorly placed shot will result in a long day.

We would recommend the 7mm or 300 Magnums for your Zebra hunt.

For those hunters who do not wish to go through the red tape of bringing a rifle into South Africa, Nick Bowker has a Sako carbon light 300 Winchester Magnum fitted with a suppressor.

Mounted on the rifle is a Swarovski DS with a built-in rangefinder. We have hand-loaded Hornady ELD-X 200-grain ammunition.

This setup, including ammunition, is available as part of all hunting packages free of charge. Hunting methods are mainly spot and stalk.

Zebra form small herds, usually 8 to 10 in number, consisting of a stallion, several mares, and their foals. Excess males leave the herd and form bachelor herds.

Good glassing is essential in trophy assessment when hunting Zebra.

If it is the flat skin you are after, be advised that the old stallions will most likely be battle-scarred and worn and not a suitable trophy.

Look for a younger male or a mare if an excellent hide is what you seek. As often with African animals, hunting zebra is best in the early morning or late afternoon. They are regular drinkers; set up an ambush on trails leading to water holes or pans.