The Elandsberg Nature Reserve is home to a total of 24 Quagga, consisting of three breeding groups and a small bachelor herd.
1883 After Quaggas had been ruthlessly hunted in the South African Karoo, the last Quagga died at Amsterdam Zoo 1969 A scientist at the Iziko Museum in Cape Town, Reinhold Rau, re-mounted a quagga foal as part of the construction of a display at the museum 1987 The non-profit Quagga Project was founded 2021 The Rau Quagga Breed Society of South Africa is set up as a registration and information-sharing platform for all breeders of Quagga.
When the University of California analysed DNA samples of dried tissue from the Iziko foal’s skin and from two additional Quaggas Reinhold re-mounted in 1980, it revealed that the Quagga was not a separate species, but a southern population of the Plains Zebra. This meant that the Quagga could be resurrected by selective breeding!
Bartholomeus Klip is proud to have played a part in the project from the start in 1987. In fact, our very own farm manager Mike Gregor is one of the project’s founders and its current Chairperson, and the project’s administration and stud book is managed by our reserve manager Bernard Wooding.