Cool Animal Sounds: Grevy's Zebra

I wasn't able to find a YouTube video, so there's a link for this one: Grevy's zebra courtship vocalizations on ARKive.

A Grevy's zebra (Equus grevyi) stallion in Kenya

Many small children learn about these more unusual zebra as the zebra with the thin stripes, and indeed their stripes are much thinner than the plains zebra. However, that is not all that differentiates these two species. They have a completely white belly, which other zebra species do not have. Unlike the plains zebra, the Grevy's zebra does not whinny like a horse but instead sounds much more like a donkey or mule. They also resemble one as well, being stockier than the plains zebra. Males are known for being quite territorial. The Grevy's zebra are Endangered, with numbers estimated to be at about 2,000 individuals.

I had the privilege of hearing the exact same sound in that video while doing my research on the hartebeest. It was quite startling the first time I heard it because the zebra are extremely loud and the herd I was observing was very quiet!

Image is from Wikimedia Commons under a creative commons license. Source is Animal Diversity Web.