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Ideal zebra habitat – Burchell's zebras at Mara Masai Reserve, Kenya
Image: Esculapio
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 | | Zebras aren't restricted to pure grassland. |  | Burchell's zebra's distribution. Red: former range;
Green: present range. Map: Pmaas
|  | | Mountain zebra's distribution. Map: Harald Süpfle |
Zebra habitat can include open plains, semidesert, open woodlands, and even mountainous regions. This variation occurs because there are three types of zebra, Burchell's zebra (Equus burchellii), Grevy's zebra (Equus grevyi), and the mountain zebra (Equus zebra).¹ Zebras are found in the more arid portions of eastern and southern Africa. Their range is greatly reduced from what it was in former times.
Grevy's zebra lives in the most xeric habitat of the three, the sub-desert region of northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia between the range of Burchell's zebra to the south, and the African wild ass to the north. Equus grevyi can live off of tough desert grasses that are inedible to cattle.
Burchell's zebra is found in a more varied range of habitats, ranging from savanna, to open woodland and scrub, to grassland. It also can occur in hilly, or even mountainous, country up to an elevation of 4,400 meters. It's much more dependent on the availability of fresh water than is Grevy's zebra.
As its name suggests, the mountain zebra generally occurs in mountainous or hilly regions. Like Burchell's, most of its diet is composed of grass, with the addition of some browse.
 | Distribution of Grevy's zebra. Map: Chermundy
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