An extinct variety of zebra only had stripes on its head and neck.

The last Quagga died in a zoo in 1883. At the time no one realized that this actually meant the animal was extinct. Their wild population dwindled in their native South African grasslands with the introduction of non-native sheep and goats. Because they competed with the Quagga for grass to graze on, settlers hunted them to extinction.

The Quagga, it turns out, is not a separate species. Rather, it is a subspecies of the more common Plains Zebra. This is an important difference because that means that this extinct animal can actually be brought back! Their genetic code is still present in the genome of the Plains Zebra and, through selective breeding, an approximate subspecies can be recreated.

Check out the Quagga Project for information on the efforts to bring back this extinct animal.