Editing Plains zebra (section)

===Reproduction and parenting===
[[File:Burchell's zebra (Equus quagga burchellii) suckling.jpg|thumb|Mother zebra nursing her foal]]
[[File:Grévy's × Plains Zebra, ol pejeta imported from iNaturalist photo 401473965 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Grévy's × plains zebra hybrid, alongside plains zebras.]]
The stallion mates with all his mares. Males exhibit the [[flehmen response]] to test for female receptivity, which involves the upper lip curling back to smell for urine (via the [[vomeronasal organ]]). The female signals her readiness for copulation by straddling her legs and raising her tail. The gestation period lasts around a year, and a single young is produced. Mares may give birth to one foal every twelve months. The birthing peak is during the rainy season. A mare gives birth within the vicinity of her group and while lying down on her side. The newborn foal weighs {{convert|30|–|35|kg|lb|abbr=on}} and the [[afterbirth]] is rarely consumed.<ref name="Skinner"/><ref name="Kingdon 1988"/><ref name="Grub 1981"/>

A newborn is capable of standing almost immediately and starts to eat grass within a week. Early on, a mother zebra keeps any other zebra away from her foal, including the stallion, the other mares, and even her previous offspring. Later, though, they all bond. Within the group, a foal has the same rank as its mother.<ref name="Grub 1981"/><ref name="Kingdon 1988"/><ref name="Nunez2011">{{cite book|author=Nunez, C. M. V.; Rubenstein, D. I.; Asa, C. S.|year=2011|contribution=Zebra Reproduction|title=Equine Reproduction|editor=McKinnon, A. O.; Squires, E. L.; Vaala, E. L.; Varner, D. D.|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|pages=2851–2865|isbn=978-0813819716}}</ref><ref name="Skinner"/> The stallion is generally intolerant of foals that are not his, and zebras may practice [[Infanticide (zoology)|infanticide]] and [[feticide]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ivb.cz/folia/54/3/258-262.pdf |title=Further evidence for male infanticide and feticide in captive plains zebras |access-date=2012-07-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222174717/http://www.ivb.cz/folia/54/3/258-262.pdf |archive-date=2012-02-22 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Mortality for foals is high in their first year of life and is usually caused by predation. However, zebra young are afforded more protection than those of species like wildebeest and [[hartebeest]]. A foal is usually weaned at around eleven months, but may suckle for longer. Females reach puberty before three years, and males after five or six. Young male zebras eventually leave their family groups as the relationship with their mothers fades after the birth of a sibling. The young stallion then seeks out other young stallions for company. Young females may stay in the harem until they are abducted by another stallion.<ref name="Kingdon 1988"/><ref name="Estes 1991"/><ref name="Nunez2011"/><ref name="Skinner">{{cite book|author=Skinner, J. D.; Chimimba, C. T.|year=2006|title=The Mammals of the Southern African Sub-region|publisher=Cambridge University Press|pages=243–246|isbn=978-0521844185}}</ref> Plains zebras have an average lifespan of 25 years in the wild.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-09-10 |title=Plains Zebra {{!}} National Geographic |url= https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/plains-zebra |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210225171557/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/plains-zebra |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 25, 2021 |access-date=2022-12-15 |website=Animals |language=en}}</ref>