Editing Plains zebra (section)

==Human interactions==
===Conservation===
[[Image:Quagga in enclosure.jpg|thumb|left|A quagga mare in London Zoo, 1870]]
In 2016, the plains zebra was classified as [[near threatened]] by the [[IUCN]]. As of that year, the total population is estimated to be around 500,000 individuals. The species remains common throughout its range but has experienced population declines in 10 of the 17 countries where it is native. They are stable in [[Ethiopia]], [[Malawi]], and [[South Africa]] and possibly [[Angola]]; stable or increasing in [[Mozambique]], [[Namibia]] and [[Eswatini]]; and decreasing in [[Botswana]], [[DR Congo]], [[Kenya]], [[Rwanda]], [[Somalia]], [[South Sudan]], [[Tanzania]], [[Uganda]], [[Zambia]], and [[Zimbabwe]]. They are extinct in [[Burundi]], [[Lesotho]] and possibly Somalia.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" />

Zebras are threatened by hunting for their hide and meat, and habitat change from farming. They also compete with livestock for food,<ref name=comp>{{Cite journal | last = Young | first = T. P. |author2=T. M. Palmer |author3=M. E. Gadd | title = Competition and compensation among cattle, zebras, and elephants in a semi-arid savanna in Laikipia, Kenya | journal = Biological Conservation | volume = 121 | issue = 2 | pages = 351–359 | year = 2005 | doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2004.08.007| bibcode = 2005BCons.122..351Y }}</ref><ref name=foraging>{{Cite journal | last = Odadi | first = W. O. |author2=T. P. Young |author3=J. B. Okeyo-Owour | title = The effects of wild herbivores on cattle intake and movement rates in Laikipia rangeland, Kenya. | journal = Applied Animal Behaviour Science | volume = 116 | issue = 2–4 | pages = 120–125 | year = 2009 | doi=10.1016/j.applanim.2008.08.010}}</ref><ref name="Moehlman 2002"/> and fencing blocks migration routes.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /> Civil wars in some countries have also caused declines in zebra populations.<ref name="Moehlman 2002"/> The zebra can be found in numerous protected areas across its range, including the [[Serengeti National Park]] in Tanzania, [[Tsavo]] and [[Masai Mara]] in Kenya, [[Hwange National Park]] in Zimbabwe, [[Etosha National Park]] in Namibia, and [[Kruger National Park]] in South Africa. Some stable populations live in unprotected areas.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" />

The quagga was hunted by early Dutch settlers and later by [[Afrikaner]]s to provide meat or for their skins. The skins were traded or used locally. The quagga was probably vulnerable to extinction due to its limited distribution, and it may have competed with domestic livestock for forage. The last known wild quagga died in 1878.<ref name="Weddell">{{cite book|author=Weddell, B. J. |year=2002 |title=Conserving Living Natural Resources: In the Context of a Changing World |url= https://archive.org/details/conservingliving00wedd_343|url-access=limited|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/conservingliving00wedd_343/page/n62 46]|isbn=978-0-521-78812-0}}</ref> The last captive quagga, a female in Amsterdam's [[Natura Artis Magistra]] zoo, lived there from 9 May 1867 until it died on 12 August 1883, but its origin and cause of death are unclear.<ref name="ungulates">{{Cite journal |last=Van Bruggen |first=A.C. |year=1959 |title=Illustrated notes on some extinct South African ungulates |url=https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520/AJA00382353_1382 |journal=South African Journal of Science |volume=55 |pages=197–200 }}</ref> In 1984, the quagga was the first extinct animal to have its DNA analysed, and the [[Quagga Project]] is trying to recreate the [[phenotype]] of hair coat pattern and related characteristics by selectively breeding Burchell's zebras.<ref name="Project">{{Cite journal |last1=Harley |first1=E.H. |last2=Knight |first2=M.H. |last3=Lardner |first3=C. |last4=Wooding |first4=B. |last5=Gregor |first5=M. |title=The Quagga Project: Progress over 20&nbsp;years of selective breeding |doi=10.3957/056.039.0206 |journal=South African Journal of Wildlife Research |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=155 |year=2009 |citeseerx=10.1.1.653.4113 |s2cid=31506168 |url=http://quaggaproject.org/downloads/SAJWRpaper.pdf}}</ref>

===In popular culture===
[[File:Coat of arms of Botswana.svg|thumb|right|upright|Zebras on the [[Coat of arms of Botswana|Botswana coat of arms]]]]
Zebras have been featured in [[African art]] and [[African culture|culture]] for millennia. They have been depicted in [[rock art]] in Southern Africa (modern Botswana, Namibia and South Africa) dating from 20,000–28,000 years ago, though not as commonly as antelope species like [[Common eland|eland]]. How the zebra got its stripes has been the subject of [[Traditional African religions|folk tales]], some of which involve it being scorched by fire. The [[San people]] associated zebra stripes with water, rain and lighting due to its dazzling pattern.<ref name="reaktion"/>

[[File:Flag of Botswana.svg|thumb|left|upright|Black and white stripes on the [[Flag of Botswana|Botswana flag]] represent the stripes of a zebra.]]
The plains zebra is the [[national animal]] of the [[Botswana|Republic of Botswana]] and its stripes are depicted on the country's flag. The flag stripes also represent racial harmony in the country.<ref>{{cite web | title = Introducing the flag of Botswana | url = https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/flag-of-botswana-facts-history-and-design | date = 19 August 2020 | publisher = [[Lonely Planet]] | access-date = 9 August 2021 | archive-date = 9 August 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210809220239/https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/flag-of-botswana-facts-history-and-design | url-status = dead }}</ref> The zebra has also been associated with beauty and the women of various societies would paint much of their bodies in stripes. For the [[Shona people]] of Zimbabwe, the zebra is a [[totem]] animal, along with the eland, buffalo, lion and monkey. The zebra is praised in a poem as an "iridescent and glittering creature". Its stripes have symbolised the joining of male and female and at [[Great Zimbabwe]], zebra stripes decorate what is believed to be a ''domba'', a premarital school meant to initiate women into adulthood. In the [[Shona language]], the name "madhuve" means "woman/women of the zebra totem" and is a given name for girls in Zimbabwe.<ref name="reaktion">{{cite book|author1=Plumb, C. |author2=Shaw, S. |year=2018|title=Zebra|publisher=Reaktion Books|pages=37–46, 192–201|isbn=978-1780239354}}</ref>

Zebras have also been represented in Western culture. They have been thought of as a more exotic alternative to horse; the comic book character [[Sheena, Queen of the Jungle]] is depicted riding a zebra. The film ''[[Racing Stripes]]'' features a captive zebra ostracised from the horses and end up being ridden by a rebellious girl.<ref name="reaktion"/> In the film ''[[Fantasia (1940 film)|Fantasia]]'', two [[centaur]]s are depicted being half human and half zebra, instead of the typical half human and half horse.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.filmsite.org/fant.html|title= ''Fantasia'' (1940)|first= Tim|last= Dirks|date= n.d.|publisher= [[Filmsite.org]]|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140823181529/http://www.filmsite.org/fant.html|archive-date= 2014-08-23|url-status= live}}</ref> Zebras have been featured as characters in other animated films like ''[[Khumba]]'', ''[[The Lion King]]'' and the [[Madagascar (franchise)|''Madagascar'' films]].<ref name="reaktion"/>