Quagga Extinction

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CONTENTION AGAINST RESTORATION OF THE WIPED OUT QUAGGA IN SOUTH AFRICA The Quagga project which was started in 1987 in South Africa attempts to bring back an extinct mammal, Equus quagga quagga from extinction and reintroduce it back into its former habitat. Through DNA analysis it was shown that the quagga was not a separate species of the plains zebra which is common in South Africa and southern Africa including Botswana but rather a subspecies of the plains zebra (Equus quagga burchelli). The extinct quagga itself formerly inhabited the Karoo and the southern free state of South Africa. The extinction of the quagga is mainly attributed to the excessive hunting done by colonists in the 19th century and the last individual of the subspecies…show more content…
The plains zebra and the extinct quagga were found to have a similar genetic composition and their main difference was phenotypical, that is, the only difference was in their coat. The quagga was less stripped than the plains zebra. Amongst the plains zebra population itself there is a variation in the strip pattern with some of the zebras less stripped than the others. Nine less stripped zebra that look more or less like the extinct quagga were selected from a population of about 2500 zebras and have since been interbred in captivity and foals that share a strong resemblance with the quagga have since been produced in the fourth and fifth generations(Harley et al , 2009). While the project has been progressing well since its establishment this essay is of the opinion that these attempts to revive the quagga…show more content…
These resources should instead be invested on saving extant organisms from extinct was it is something that have been done before and proven. REFERENCES Harley, E. H., Knight, M. H., Lardner, C., Wooding, B., Gregor, M. (2009). The quagga project: progress over 20 years of selective breeding. South African Journal of Wildlife Research 39(2), 155-164. Nuñez, C. M. V, Asa, C. S. & Rubenstein, D. J. (2009). Zebra Reproduction, In: Equine Reproduction, second edition. McKinnon, AO et al., eds.
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