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Shooti
@bambooshooti.bsky.social

#ResistanceRoots Today in history, 1883: The quagga, a subspecies of the plains zebra, becomes extinct when the last known individual dies in the Amsterdam zoo. Large herds of quagga once roamed the plains of their native South Africa until hunted ruthlessly by European colonists. /1

139 reposts378 likes

Shooti
@bambooshooti.bsky.social

The quagga was hunted to extinction because it competed with domesticated animals for forage. It was extinct in the wild by 1878. Only one quagga was photographed alive, and only 23 skins exist today. The double G is pronounced as a guttural CH and mimics the animal’s call. /2

Shooti
@bambooshooti.bsky.social

The Quagga Project, launched in 1987, aims to re-create the quagga’s distinctive hair coat pattern through genetic reverse engineering. The researchers used existing quagga skins to isolate the animal’s DNA and selectively breed Burchell’s zebra, its genetically closest relative. /end

RockCandyMtns
@origrcmtns.bsky.social

Another species of horse is the... I've forgotten the animals name ... that I've seen in the flesh in a zoo. Has horns like a giraffe, and strips are opaque. Two shades of black. Fing beautiful animal. Articulated tounge. Big scary mfer. lol Colorado Springs, CO

RockCandyMtns
@origrcmtns.bsky.social

Yes. Had socks. Male. Was an elevated cage floor so looked VERY MAJESTIC. lol Had a companion, much smaller. I was indoors and it came quickly from outside. I do remember the blackness of it's hide and the faint, hard to see stripes. Blew me away. If that tounge ahold of someone, could kill ya.

Pauline Delin
@junkhussy.bsky.social

This reminds me of the Thylacine. It was a carnivorous Marsupial. I did a report on it when I was in high school many decades ago. It became extinct in 1939 when the last one died in a zoo. I cried reading my report. It still makes me sad. All these losses do.