Zebra skin

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hartmann's mountain zebra fur

Originally, zebra skins with their characteristic stripes were used exclusively for wall decorations, rugs , stools and the like. Otherwise they were mainly used by the native Africans, similar to leopard skins . When it became possible to make the leather soft and light, from the beginning of the second half of the 20th century, occasional sports coats, jackets and other things were also made from it. In 1988, nothing was known about the number of pelts produced, their number was estimated at "barely more than a few hundred and therefore irrelevant for the fur industry".

The home of the zebra is southern Africa. Three species from the genus of horses are called zebra: Grevy's zebra , mountain zebra and the plains zebra . The two subspecies of the mountain zebra are strictly protected under the Washington Convention . The Hartmann mountain zebra may be imported into the European Union as a hunting trophy under certain conditions .

Coat description

Zebras reach a head body length of 210 to 300 centimeters, stallions become larger than mares, the tail becomes 40 to 60 centimeters long. Of the three still living species of zebras, also known as tiger horses because of their fur pattern, the largest and smallest species are donkey-like with a long head, the medium-sized one is horse-like, apart from the stripes. Like horses, the zebras have a mane.

The striped pattern typical of the species is drawn individually for each animal. What is striking is the different number of stripes of the three zebra species: while the Grevy's zebra has around 80 stripes, the mountain zebra only has about 45 and the plains zebra only about 30. In the Grevy's zebra, the stripes form 35 days after birth, in the mountain zebra after 28 days and in the Plains zebra after 21 days. The intensity of the stripe pattern decreases from northern to southern Africa.

The “horse mirror” above the hind legs of all solipeds is particularly large in the zebra and is particularly striking due to the coat pattern. In the case of fresh raw fur , it also stands out considerably from the rest of the skin on the flesh side due to its darker tint; the difference in color disappears during tanning . You can feel the greater thickness and firmness of this area of ​​skin when you touch it, the leather is smoother and shinier.

The fur structure is short-haired and smooth, more woolly in the foals. The length of the tail hair varies from the root to the middle (brush-like short, that is, donkey or wild horse-like, to long hairy, reminiscent of the tail of domestic horses), but mostly it lies between the two extremes. The end tassel of the tail is always pronounced and long-haired.

Little is known about the barely noticeable hair change, especially in the tropical forms. The zebras living in South Africa alternate between short, straight summer hair and longer, more tangled and woolly winter hair. Animals that are kept in Europe, for example, also have longer winter hair, and it is also typical that the black stripes then turn brown.

Grevy's zebra

The largest of the zebras is the Grevy's zebra from southern Abyssinia and Somaliland to northern Kenya with a head body length of about 300 centimeters, the tail is about 50 centimeters long. It has big bag ears.

The stripes, the narrowest and densest of all zebra species, are lacquer black to black-brown and very narrow in the adult animal. They reach the tail to the highest point of the croup.

The rear part of the croup between the rump and leg stripes is surrounded by a drawing of very narrow stripes, the so-called "rust", which surrounds the base of the tail. The basic color is white to yellowish. The steed reaches forward to the withers and extends to near the edge of the abdomen and into the thighs, in young animals with a mane all the way over the back. The head is relatively large and elongated, the neck rather short.

Zebra skin benches in Namibia (2017)

Mountain zebra

The mountain zebra from the Cape and the coastal areas of South West Africa has two subspecies, the smaller, the nearly extinct Kapzebra , formerly inhabited the highlands of Western Cape , Eastern Cape and Northern Cape .

The mountain zebra is on average larger than the plains zebra. All three species have a coat pattern that is very characteristic for the respective species, the mountain zebra differs from that of the plains zebra in the wider, black to chocolate brown stripes with narrower white spaces, so that it appears overall dark, but the basic color is still white. The stripes on the front of the face are always red-brown. The "shadow stripes" of the plains zebra are missing. The stripes are narrowest on the head and widest on the buttocks, where the white spaces are also very wide. On the legs, the stripes continue to the ends, with the front legs having thinner stripes than the rear legs. The black horizontal stripes are limited to the croup and the base of the tail. A dark longitudinal stripe runs across the back and the stomach, with the exception of the longitudinal stripe, the stomach is otherwise white. The fur has a distinct dewlap on the underside of the neck. The stripes of the adult animal are black-brown to lacquer black, always red-brown on the front of the face.

The head is large with rounded, donkey-like ears up to 23 centimeters long, the upper edges of which are often white. Overall, the fur has very short hair with an average length of only one centimeter, the longest are on the short mane and on the tail tassel. The hairline is directed forward at the back of the back; a swirl of hair forms a little before the highest point of the croup.

The larger form of the mountain zebra, the Hartmann mountain zebra , only lives in the highlands of South West Africa. It has narrower stripes and the least pronounced mirrors.

Despite the smaller size of the animal, the stripes of the cape zebra are wider than those of the Hartmann mountain zebra; it has the least pronounced steed level.

Plains zebra

The most diverse zebra groups are the horse-like members of the so-called quagga group , the plains zebras . Their home is southeast and east Africa from 5 degrees north to south to the cape and from there to the northwest to about 12 degrees south. They are absent in the entire rainforest west of the Congo.

They are the most widespread and therefore have the greatest variety in the drawing. The ears are shorter, the hooves equine. The head body length of this smallest species is about 230 centimeters, the tail length 52 centimeters. The coloring is not only extremely different in the local races, but also from animal to animal. However, it is always characterized by the fact that the stripes on the legs reach far into the sides of the body. Depending on the local race, the color of the stripes changes from lacquer black to dark red-brown, the basic color from white to reddish brown. Between the two dark stripes there are often narrower, less saturated stripes or shadow stripes, for example in the Damara zebra . The tail is colored black or white. Occasionally there are animals with completely black fur with irregularly distributed white spots. The rounded edges of the usually short and dark ears are white. Typical is the short mane, which reaches from the crown to the withers, some populations, especially in the northern distribution area, even have no mane.

Of the numerous subspecies described, the most common in zoos is the Boehm or Grantze zebra, which in the adult animal is usually quite dark in color and usually with strong shadow stripes . The skins of adult zebras of the Quagga group are as thick-leather as those of Grevy's zebra.

Chapman zebra

The dark fur of the adult Chapmann zebra usually has strong shadow stripes. The basic color of the Boehm or Grant zebra is pure white, it has the widest stripes of all zebra species, only rarely with shadow stripes.

Quagga

The quagga , a subspecies of the plains zebra, became extinct in 1883. With him only the head and the neck were streaked in black and white. Towards the fuselage the stripes became paler and merged into a solid red-brown. There were also animals with distinct banding to the back of the body. The legs weren't streaked.

  • Stripe variants of South African zebra skins (1890s)

  • All Zululand :
    A) reduced stripes, few shadow
    stripes BD) reduced stripes, shadow stripes on the neck

  • A) Darker basic color of the upper parts compared to the lower leg (exact origin unknown)
    B) Various shadow
    stripes and extensive stripes (exact origin unknown) C) Darker basic color of the upper parts (wild farm in Zululand)
    D) Little contact between the body stripes and the back center line (southern Kaokoland , Namibia )

  • Six variants of the plains zebra
    (unnamed origin)

history

  • Luo warrior with a neck ornament made from a zebra skin leg piece (1968)

  • Stool made of elephant feet with zebra skin seats in the Hamburg Customs Museum

Zebra skins or parts of them were used as decorative items of clothing by the inhabitants of Africa. Quagga hides were tanned by the Boers or made into sacks of grain. 1814 is named as the main use "for horse blankets ".

In the 1960s, a heyday of fur fashion, the skins of previously little or neglected, particularly conspicuously patterned animals were also used for a time, especially to set highlights in fashion presentations. In addition to the classic, vividly patterned fur types such as ocelot and leopard , zebra and occasionally even giraffe skins have now been processed into extravagant clothing. This became possible after fur finishers succeeded in making leather lighter, thinner, and supple. Attempts to make coats and jackets out of zebra skins , as in the past with horse skins , foals or calf skins , had already taken place before, although they were not taken up by fashion.

Partial view of a zebra wall hanging from a Frankfurt fur trader (2012)

processing

The hides, like the skins of all ungulates and all large animals in general, are delivered open, not peeled off round.

Zebra skins are now available as wall hangings or rugs. The skins require a lot of repair work from the furrier, they are completely littered with holes caused by insect bites. The extensive steed above the hind legs is also disruptive in the processing of the fur, it is even larger than that of the horse. At the similar processing technique of foals skins (see above) nor the consideration of the striped pattern is added at the zebra.

The shelf life quotient for products made from zebra skin is assumed by one author to be similar to that for domestic horses; it is 20 to 30 percent for horse hides and 60 to 70 percent for foal skins. An American furrier writes that the fur is not durable, the hair is too stiff and the leather too strong.

See also

Commons : Zebra Skins  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : Clothing and other zebra skin products  - collection of images, videos and audio files

annotation

  1. ↑ The specified comparative values ​​( coefficients ) are the result of comparative tests by furriers and tobacco shops with regard to the degree of apparent wear and tear. The figures are not unambiguous; in addition to the subjective observations of durability in practice, there are also influences from fur dressing and fur finishing as well as numerous other factors in each individual case . More precise information could only be determined on a scientific basis. The division was made in steps of ten percent each. The most durable types of fur according to practical experience were set to 100 percent.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Erna Mohr: Of horse skins and zebra skins . In: Das Pelzgewerbe No. 4, 1964, Hermelin-Verlag Dr. Paul Schöps, Berlin et al., Pp. 161-168.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Christian Franke, Johanna Kroll: Jury Fränkel ´s Rauchwaren-Handbuch 1988/89 . 10th, revised and supplemented new edition. Rifra-Verlag, Murrhardt 1988, p. 310-311 .
  3. ↑ Sean B. Carroll: Evo Devo . 1st edition. Berlin University Press, 2005, ISBN 978-3-940432-15-5 , pp. 230-235 .
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g Heinrich Dathe , Paul Schöps, with the collaboration of 11 specialists: Fur Animal Atlas . VEB Gustav Fischer Verlag, Jena 1986, pp. 256-260.
  5. ^ A b c CS Churcher: Equus grevyi. Mammalian Species No. 453, 1993, pp. 1-9.
  6. ↑ Bo Beolens, Michael Watkins, Michael Grayson: The Eponym Dictionary of Mammals. JHU Press, 2009, ISBN 978-0-8018-9304-9 , p. 179.
  7. ^ LB Penzhorn: Equus zebra. Mammalian Species 314, 1988, pp. 1-7.
  8. ^ A b c Peter Grubb: Equus burchelli. Mammalian Species 157, 1981, pp. 1-9.
  9. ^ D. Johann Heinrich Moritz Poppe: Johann Christian Schedels new and complete wares lexicon. Second part: M to Z. Fourth, thoroughly improved edition. Verlag Carl Ludwig Brede, Offenbach am Mayn 1814, p. 592.
  10. ^ A b David G. Kaplan: World of Furs . Fairchield Publications, New York 1974, pp. 21, 53, 59, 196 (English).
  11. ↑ Alexander Tuma: Pelz-Lexikon. Fur and rough goods. XXI. Band . 1st edition. Alexander Tuma, Vienna 1951, p. 283, keyword "zebra" .
  12. ↑ Paul Schöps, H. Brauckhoff, K. Häse, Richard König , W. Straube-Daiber: The durability coefficients of fur skins. In: The fur trade. Volume XV, New Series, No. 2, Hermelin Verlag Dr. Paul Schöps, Berlin / Frankfurt am Main / Leipzig / Vienna 1964, pp. 56–58.