Grévy's Zebra (Equus grevyi)--1882

This Grevy's zebra was photographed in the Menagerie du Jardin des Plantes, 1882. The zebra was given in 1882 to Jules Grevy, president of the French Republic, by Menelik II, King of Shoa, now Abyssinia. When it arrived in France, the animal was placed in the Menagerie du Jardin des Plantes of the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, where it died after few days. It is through this specimen that French Naturalist Emile Oustalet was able to identify and describe the species Equus grevyi for the first time.

Grévy's Zebra was the first zebra to be discovered by the Europeans and was used by the ancient Romans in circuses. Later, it was largely forgotten about in the Western world for a thousand years. It was rediscovered in the seventeenth century, when the king of Shoa (now central Ethiopia) sent one to the Sultan of Turkey and another to the Dutch governor of Jakarta. a century later in 1882, the government of Abyssinia sent one to French president, Jules Grevy. It was recognized as distinct from the better known zebras of southern Africa and was named in Grévy’s honor.


" I wonder if this zebra had foundered, or had gotten laminitis, which led to his early death. I note in the top picture he appears to be leaning back on his heels, as if to keep weight off of his front feet, and the same thing in the picture below, where he is leaning to the left with his left fore leg cocked."