Where Have All the Quaggas Gone?

TAKE a careful look at the quagga (Equus quagga)​—lest you be deceived. Viewed from the front, it could be mistaken for a zebra. From behind, quaggas looked like horses. From the side, you may be forgiven for seeing both​—because that is exactly how the quagga looked.

Unfortunately, your chances of ever seeing a quagga ended in an Amsterdam zoo on August 12, 1883, because that is when the last of these exotic creatures died. All that remain today are 23 stuffed specimens, seven skeletons, and some artistic impressions like the one you see here.

What a tragedy! At one time great herds of quaggas cavorted across southern Africa. When the first Bushmen and Hottentot tribes of southern Africa heard the quaggas’ coughlike bark, they were so amused that it was only natural to name them after the sound they made​—“quagga quagga.” Then, sadly, during the 19th century, the reverberating crack of the hunter’s gun ensured that the quagga would join the silent ranks of the extinct.

However, according to Mr. Reinhold Rau, head of the taxidermy section of the South African Museum in Cape Town, all is not lost. How so? When experts examined the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) of quagga dry muscle tissue and blood taken from mounted specimens, it was found that the quagga was simply a subspecies of the common plains, or Burchell’s, zebra. This means that among the plains zebras, of which there are still large numbers, there is a strong possibility that latent quagga genes could be encouraged to surface by selective breeding.

And that is exactly what Mr. Rau, along with the Quagga Experimental Breeding Committee, is investigating. From Natal province of South Africa and the Etosha game reserve in Namibia, zebras with weak markings on their hind legs and rumps were selected and bred with each other. So far the first foals born are showing promising results.

Unlike the quagga, many species do not stand a similar chance of retrieval. Chilling predictions indicate that by the year 2000, as much as 15 to 20 percent of all living species on earth may be extinct. This tragic loss of biodiversity is largely due to the ruinous hand of man. Thus, the quagga recovery program is merely a cry in the wilderness.

There is comforting reassurance though. In a prophecy recorded in the last book of the Bible, Revelation, the Creator of all the estimated tens of millions of species on earth promises to “bring to ruin those ruining the earth.” (Revelation 11:18) In the absence of such ruinous forces, faithful humans will properly fulfill their role as caretakers of planet Earth.​—Genesis 1:28; Isaiah 11:6-9.

[Picture Credit Line on page 24]

Courtesy of Africana Museum, Johannesburg