The Tragic Reason The Quagga Went Extinct

When the colonists of the Dutch East India Company landed in Southern Africa in 1652, it was with the intention to create a settlement that would serve as a refueling point for Dutch ships traveling around the Cape of Good Hope. Ships were to be supplied with fresh water and food, with meat obtained from farmers of local nomadic tribes. However, the volume of maritime traffic was such that the Dutch Cape Colony expanded rapidly to include abundant farmland around what today is known as Cape Town.

The Dutch's concern with the procurement and farming of livestock to supply food for both the settlers and sailors passing through the Cape saw them looking to exploit numerous species of African wildlife. Among them was the quagga, a subspecies of the plains zebra that has been extinct since 1883. The last wild specimen believed to have been shot in the 1870s, and the quaggas downfall is often attributed to the disturbing ferocity of Dutch hunters, as well as miscommunication between the colonizers and local tribes.

As with most large beasts, quaggas represented a source of meat and materials for hunters in the 19th century, with the Dutch shooting quaggas for their meat and skins, which could be used as leather. Quaggas lived abundantly in the wild and had long been hunted by members of Indigenous tribes such as the Khoikhoi, who used almost the entire carcass to produce a range of useful items including shoes, ropes, and harnesses.

However, despite quaggas being a potential source of sustainable food for colonizers, the Dutch attitude toward the species soured in the years following the establishment of the Cape Colony. The Dutch had attempted to use quaggas, to protect herds of livestock and as beasts of burden. But they lacked the stamina of other equines, were aggressive and difficult to tame, and plans for widespread domestication failed to catch on. Though some quaggas were taken to zoos in Europe and were intended for breeding, they did not react well to captivity — one distressed colt died after repeatedly slamming itself against its enclosure. The Dutch came to treat them as vermin and seemingly killed them indiscriminately.

Some sources now claim that the extinction of the quagga was not as premeditated as it may retrospectively appear. Indeed, in the 19th century, South Africa was teeming with wildlife, and there is an argument that the loss of the quagga occurred against the backdrop of widespread hunting by colonists, tribes, and game hunters who traveled to the area especially to shoot big game. It has been pointed out that the word "quagga," which comes from the Khoikhoi language, was used broadly by Indigenous people to refer to a wide variety of plain zebra subspecies, and that a lack of distinction between species ultimately led to the quagga's decline going unnoticed until it was too late.

In the last four decades, there has been a concerted effort to bring the quagga back from extinction. In 1987, conservationists working in South Africa's Etosha National Park selected nine zebras with which to try and breed a new version of the quagga, which differs from the zebra in having a darker appearance and stripes only on the front half of its body. Their efforts have continued to the present day. Though those involved in what is known as the Quagga Project concede that the beasts will not be true quaggas in the genetic sense, it is hoped that through selective breeding new creatures closely resembling the quagga will eventually be brought into being.

Sadly animals continue to face extinction, with countless species irredeemably wiped out in the past 100 years. Conservation efforts in South Africa today support the increase in biodiversity in the country in the hope that it might one day resemble the lush fauna-filled landscape it was centuries ago while helping to stabilize the changing climate.