What Is the Niche of the African Zebra?

Zebras in Africa occupy the large, mammalian herbivore niche in the wild. They primarily consume grasses, weeds and sedges, but they will also eat other types of vegetation such as leaves, fruit and tubers. Zebras have a number of predators that hunt them, including lions, leopards, hyenas and wild dogs.

According to the zebra information page on the Caltech website, there are three distinct species of Zebra that inhabit Africa, two of which contain multiple subspecies. The plains zebra (Equus burchelli) is the most common zebra and it inhabits the plains of southern Africa. Seven subspecies of plains zebra are recognized, but two of these are extinct. Mountain zebras (Equus zebra) inhabit the highlands and are further classified into two subspecies. Grevy’s zebras (Equus zebryi) have not been divided into any subspecies.