This subspecies is distributed in Zambia west of the Luangwa river west to Kariba, Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, north to the Kibanzao Plateau, and in Tanzania north from Nyangaui and Kibwezi into southwestern Kenya as far as Sotik.

Duncan (1992)[1] recognized the Upper Zambezi zebra (Equus quagga zambeziensis Prazak, 1898[2]).

The minor size difference does not justify a separate subspecific status for the Upper Zambezi zebra.

This northern subspecies is vertically striped in front, horizontally on the back legs, and diagonally on the rump and hind flanks.

Recent civil wars in the Congo, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia, and Uganda have caused dramatic declines in all wildlife populations, including those of Grant’s zebra.

Civil war in Angola during much of the past 25 years has devastated its wildlife populations, including its once-abundant plains zebra, and destroyed the national parks administration and infrastructure.

However, recent civil wars and political conflicts in the African countries near their habitats has caused regional extinction, and sometimes zebras are killed for their coats, or to eliminate competition with domestic livestock.

Amongst the animals, such as blue wildebeest, waterbuck, Cape giraffe, bush elephants, oryx gemsbok, Livingstone eland, nyala and ostrich, were Burchell's zebras.

Like all members of the horse family, zebras spend more time feeding than ruminant herbivores, such as antelope and wildebeest do.

Hence although zebras must feed for longer each day than antelope and wildebeest do, they can consume grasses and other plants with higher fibre content or lower protein levels than ruminants can digest.