THE ZOOLOGIST
No. 680.—February, 1898.
ON ZEBRA-HORSE HYBRIDS.
By J.C. Ewart, F.R.S.
Regius Professor of Natural History, University of Edinburgh.
(Plates I., II., III.)
The Zebra Sire of the Hybrids.
During the last two years I have bred five hybrids by crossing mares with a Zebra (Equus burchelli var. chapmani). The first hybrid was born on Aug. 12th, 1896; the others were born during the summer of 1897. The dams of the respective hybrids are (1) an Island of Rum pony, (2) a Shetland pony, (3) an Iceland pony, (4) an Irish mare, (5) a cross-bred Clydesdale mare.
The sire ("Matopo") of all the hybrids is a handsome 12.3 hands Burchell's Zebra, probably from the Transvaal. As fig. 1 (PI. I.) shows, Matopo is well formed, with powerful legs and, for a Zebra, a fine neck and fairly good shoulders. In his movements he is almost perfect. When trotting, the fore legs move gracefully, without suggesting the hammering action of the hackney; and when galloping he seems to bound along as if without effort, and with but little expenditure of energy.
If Zebras deserve the ill character they have hitherto borne, Matopo must be an exception to the rule. We are too apt to forget that until Zebras have been under domestication for some generations, it is unfair to judge them by the Horse standard, which after all is not so very high. I have known several
