Summary
Zebra trophy hunting can prove difficult, as judging stallions from mares can be very hard.
Zebra is a remarkably tough equine family member; shot placement is critical.
There are no seasonal restrictions on hunting Zebra trophies in Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Bowker Hunting offers Zebra African hunting safaris year-round.
Table of Contents
Introduction to Zebra Hunts
Zebra hunting is one of the most exhilarating experiences for hunters seeking a unique African adventure. With their striking black and white stripes, zebras are not only iconic animals of the African plains but also highly prized trophies for zebra hunters and trophy hunting enthusiasts.
In South Africa, especially in the Eastern Cape Province, both plains zebra and mountain zebra can be found roaming diverse habitats, offering a variety of hunting opportunities. Whether you’re drawn to the challenge of stalking a wary herd or the reward of harvesting a beautiful trophy, hunting zebra is a memorable pursuit.
Many outfitters in the region offer guided zebra hunts and rifle hunting packages, ensuring that hunters of all backgrounds can experience the thrill of the hunt. From the open grasslands to the rugged hills of the cape, zebra hunts in South Africa promise adventure, challenge, and the chance to take home a truly stunning trophy. Additionally, hunting zebras can contribute to conservation efforts and generate revenue for local communities, supporting sustainable practices.
Planning a Zebra Hunt Expedition
When preparing for a zebra hunt, careful planning is key to a successful and enjoyable experience. In South Africa, zebra hunting is available year round, with the prime months typically stretching from April to November when conditions are most favorable. Peak hunting times, however, are typically from late April to November due to better visibility during these months.
One of the first considerations is the trophy fee, which for a trophy zebra generally ranges from $1,000 to $1,500, depending on the location and outfitter. It’s important to select a reputable outfitter who can accommodate hunters of all skill levels and ensure a safe, ethical hunt. There are no seasonal restrictions on zebra hunts in the Eastern Cape, making it easy to fit a hunt into your schedule.
Another crucial aspect is choosing the right rifle caliber—zebra are tough animals, so a powerful, accurate rifle is recommended for a clean, humane shot. Shot placement is equally important to ensure a quick kill and preserve the quality of your trophy. By considering these factors—timing, trophy fees, outfitter reputation, rifle caliber, and shot placement—you’ll be well on your way to a rewarding zebra hunting adventure in Africa.
Zebra Trophy Fees in South Africa – 2025
The average price of a Zebra is $1200. A zebra can be added to any African safari hunt package.
Our trophy fee for 2025 is $1200. Don’t forget that additional costs such as daily rates or other fees may apply.
The Zebra trophy hunting package includes a licensed hunting guide, a hunting license, and all permits for the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.
Alternatively, we can customize a Zebra hunt package that includes other trophies. We also offer hunts for zebra as part of various safari packages.
Join us at our ranch and lodge for an unforgettable hunt experience.
Zebra can be hunted year-round, making it a suitable trophy year round due to the absence of seasonal restrictions.
Zebra Hunts in South Africa
Shot placement must be in the bottom third of the animal directly above the front shoulder. This will ensure a heart or lung shot. Avoid head and neck shots, which are high-risk.
Your Zebra trophy should have an average shoulder height of around 50 inches and weigh about 800 pounds.
Zebras have been reintroduced into the Eastern Cape but are not genuinely free-ranging. Standard cattle and sheep fences impede zebras’ movement.
Zebra are relatively widely spread across the Eastern Cape. Hunts mainly use an ambush method in open country and walk and stalk techniques.
Plains zebras, in particular, are commonly found in savannas, grasslands, and open woodlands, making these habitats ideal for hunting opportunities.
Zebra can be challenging to approach and very wild.
We offer the opportunity to hunt Zebra in several plains game packages.
Hunting Trophy Zebra can prove difficult, as judging stallions from mares can be challenging. Hunting is done by spot and stalk.
Although the mares choose the dominant stallion, the stallion will assume his position at the back of a retreating herd, thus being closer to the point of danger, often stopping to look back.
Zebra is very resilient and tough and likely will require a follow-up shot.
Zebra provides the ideal add-on to one of our packages for the hunter, such as the kudu- Nyala Game Hunts package.
The pattern of stripes serves as camouflage and helps to deter biting flies, providing zebras with a unique evolutionary advantage in their environment.
Trophy Judgement and Rifle-Caliber for Your Zebra Hunt
Zebra is a remarkably tough animal. Shot placement is vital; a poorly placed shot will result in a long hunt.
We recommend the 7mm or 300 Magnum calibers for your hunt.
For those who do not wish to go through the red tape of bringing a rifle into South Africa to hunt with, Nick Bowker has 300 Winchester Magnums fitted with suppressors.
We have high-end Swarovski tactical optics mounted on the rifles. We have hand-loaded Hornady ELD-X 200-grain ammunition for hunters.
This setup, including ammunition, is free of charge as part of all hunting packages. Hunt methods are mainly spot and stalk.
Zebra form small herds, usually 8 to 10 in number, consisting of a stallion, several mares, and their foals. Excess males leave the herd and form bachelor herds. These make for ideal hunting targets.
Good glassing is essential in trophy assessment when hunting.
If it is the flat skin you are after, the hunter should be advised that the old stallions will most likely be battle-scarred and worn and not a suitable trophy for your Zebra rug.
Zebra hunters look for a younger male or a mare if an excellent hide is what they seek. As often with African animals, hunting zebra is best in the early morning or late afternoon. They are regular drinkers.
Difference Between a Male and Female
Difference Between a Male and Female
Telling the difference between a male and female zebra can be a real challenge, even for seasoned hunters. Male zebras, known as stallions, are generally larger and more muscular than their female counterparts, called mares. Stallions often have a thicker neck and, if observed closely, visible testicles, while mares have a more slender build and lack these features. During a hunt, you might notice that males tend to position themselves at the back of the herd, acting as protectors against predators, while females and foals stay toward the center.
While many hunting tags in South Africa do not specify the sex of the zebra to be harvested, understanding these differences can help hunters make informed decisions in the field and appreciate the unique characteristics of these remarkable animals. Whether you’re after a trophy stallion or a mare with a pristine hide, knowing how to distinguish between males and females adds another layer of skill and satisfaction to your zebra hunting experience.
Determining the difference between a zebra stallion and a zebra mare is no easy task. Herds typically consist of a dominant stallion, several mares, and their offspring.
Exciting facts about the Zebra for Hunts
- Every zebra has a unique pattern. Scientists can use patterns like bar codes to identify individuals in a herd and keep track of them over time.
- For a long time, scientists have wondered why zebras have stripes. According to one theory, it confuses predators, making it harder for a lion to pick out an individual zebra from a stampeding herd.
- Recently, some scientists have believed that stripes keep zebras cooler. The dark bars soak up more sunlight than the light ones, which stirs up eddies of wind that swirl heat away.
- Researchers have also discovered that biting flies avoid striped patterns.
- The two theories might be linked as biting flies prefer hot temperatures, making them less likely to bite a cooler zebra.
- One of the three zebra species, the mountain zebra, was nearly extinct in South Africa but was saved by a farmer’s group.
- Mountain zebra have incredibly hard, sharp hooves that help them negotiate in difficult, rugged terrain.
- And while this wild critter can’t grow a mountain man beard, it does have a bizarre, prominent neck flap called a dewlap.
- A distinctive subspecies of the plains zebra, the quagga was mostly yellow-brown and un-striped below its shoulders.
- Native to South Africa, it was driven to extinction by European settlers and hunters. The last quagga died at the Amsterdam Zoo in 1883.
- Zebras can breed with the horses. The offspring come in a fantastic variety of semi-striped patterns and are usually infertile.
- Burchell Zebra safari-style hunting can be done across South Africa.
- Zebra often associate with blue wildebeest.
More Exciting Facts About Zebras
Did you know there are three species of zebra? These are the Plains zebra, Grevy’s zebra, and Mountain zebra. The Burchell’s zebra, a subspecies of the Plains zebra, is known for its distinct shadow stripes and is highly regarded as a trophy species. Grevy’s zebra is the rarest, easily recognized by its narrow stripes and large, rounded ears. The Hartmann’s zebra, a type of Mountain zebra, is found in Namibia and is also sought after in hunting circles.
Zebras are often seen grazing in open grasslands, feeding primarily on grasses, leaves, and shoots. Their feeding habits make them important grazers in their ecosystem. Alongside zebras, other common African game animals like blue wildebeest and impala are frequently included in hunting packages and are often spotted together at waterholes.
Certain zebra species, such as the Plains and Mountain zebra, can be legally hunted under specific regulations in some African countries. Zebra meat is considered high-quality and is sometimes harvested for food purposes, with Burchell’s zebra being the only type bred and harvested specifically for meat and hides.
About the Zebra for Hunters
Description of Zebra
The unique stripes of zebras make them one of the animals most familiar to people. They occur in various habitats, such as grasslands, savannas, woodlands, thorny scrublands, mountains, and coastal hills.
Zebras have excellent eyesight. The Zebra’s eyes are on the sides of its head, giving it a wide field of view.
They also have night vision but are not as advanced as most of their predators.
Zebras have excellent hearing due to large, rounded ears and can turn their ears in almost any direction.
In addition to superb eyesight and hearing, zebras also have an acute sense of smell.
The eyesight of Zebra can make zebra hunting very challenging.
Highly social, Zebra live in groups called a dazzle, herd, or zeal. Stallions keep harems and their foals up to six mares. Harems consist of a dominant male, several females, and their offspring, creating a structured social dynamic within the group.
Bachelor males live alone or form bachelors until they are old enough to challenge a breeding stallion.
Information for Zebra hunting
The common plains zebra species is about 47 – 51 inches at the shoulder. It can weigh up to 700 – 900 pounds, males slightly more significant than females.
- Plains zebras are the smallest, most abundant, of the horse family’s wild members. They roam across much of southeastern Africa.
- Zebra comes in all sorts of subspecies and coat variations. For example, the further south you travel across Africa, the plains zebras will have fewer stripes on their legs. Nobody is sure why, but it may have something to do with the temperature or populations of those biting flies.
- Found in Kenya and Ethiopia, Grevys zebras have a more donkey-like shape, with huge round ears. The Grevy’s zebra species is the largest wild horse family member and can weigh up to 990 pounds.
The Hartmann zebra is a sub-specie of the Mountain Zebra and is found only in Nambia and can be hunted.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to hunt a Zebra?
Trophy fees as a standalone Zebra are between $1,000 and $1,600. Daily hunt rates vary between $250 and $500 per day.
Included in the Zebra trophy fee is a licensed guide. As well as a hunting license and all permits.
How to hunt Zebra?
Hunts mainly use ambush techniques in open country and walk and stalk techniques.
Where do you shoot a Zebra?
Shot placement must be in the bottom third of the animal directly above the front shoulder. This will ensure a heart or lung shot. Avoid head and neck shots, which are high-risk.
What is a trophy Zebra?
Zebra does not have a Safari Club International score. Hunting zebra can prove difficult, as judging stallions from mares can be challenging. If it is the flat skin you are after, be advised that the old stallions will most likely be battle-scarred and worn.
Seasonal Restrictions
When can you hunt Zebras in South Africa?
There are no seasonal restrictions on a zebra hunt in the Eastern Cape of South Africa.
What Caliber is Recommended for Zebra Hunts?
We recommend the flat shooting 300 Winchester or 7mm magnums with high-quality tactical scopes and a suppressor.
Zebra in pictures
