Quagga reborn - breeding zebras to replace extinct quagga species

Know the animal at right? If you don't think this quagga looks familiar, there's good reason: The quagga was hunted to extinction in the 1800s for its uniquely colored hide. In 1883, the world's last quagga died in the Amsterdam Zoo. Now scientists in South Africa are on the verge of bringing quaggas back to life! Reinhold Rau, a taxidermist (a craftsperson who stuffs and mounts animal skins for display) believes the quagga wasn't a unique species, but rather a subspecies of the plains zebra. A subspecies is a variation within a species--for example, a bulldog is a subspecies of the domesticated dog species: Animals of the same species, even those belonging to different subspecies, can mate with each other to produce offspring.

To find out if quaggas were related to plains zebras, scientist Russel Higuchi of the University of California at Berkeley analyzed a fragment of DNA (genetic code) from dried blood samples found in the preserved skin of a stuffed quagga. Higuchi discovered quagga DNA closely matches plains-zebra DNA. "The quagga was, in fact, the same species as the living plains zebra," confirms Eric Harley, a geneticist (gene scientist) from the University of Cape Town in South Africa.

That means it's possible to breed quaggas from plains zebras. To "recreate" the quagga, Rau chose zebras with limited striping in the hind quarters and an overall brownish color, typical of quaggas.

Today, Rau and his partners in Cape Town, South Africa, oversee 53 animals in their breeding program. They're still waiting for the birth of a foal that can be called a true quagga. Although excited about the prospect of bringing the quagga back to life, Rau cautions that his efforts aren't applicable to all extinct animals. "The quagga was not a separate species in its own right," he says. "If a species becomes extinct, no resurrection is possible!"

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