Zebra herbs, twigs, leaves and bark. Their digestive systems allow them to subsist on diets of lower nutritional quality than that necessary for other herbivores. Female zebras mature earlier than the males, and a mare may have her first foal by the age of three. Males are not able to breed until the age of five or six. Mares may give birth to one foal every twelve months. She nurses the foal for up to a year. Like horses, zebras are able to stand, walk and suckle shortly after they are born. A zebra foal is brown and white instead of
Plains zebra and not endangered, though some populations such as in Tanzania have declined sharply. A dispute exists among biologists as to how to properly classify the various species of zebras. The plains zebra and mountain zebra are thought to belong to the subgenus "Hippotigris" and that Grévy's zebra is the sole species of subgenus "Dolichohippus". This is on account of Grévy's zebra resembling an ass (subgenus "Asinus"), while the plains zebra and mountain zebra are more horse-like. All three animals belong to the genus "Equus" along with other living equids. However, recent phylogenetic evidence finds that plains zebras are more closely