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Countless species have come and gone in the short history of life on Earth. Yet, there are some extinctions that have felt significantly more tragic than others.
One of these cases is that of the quagga: a rare, horse-like animal that, totally unbeknownst to humankind, disappeared off the face of the planet in 1883.
Almost 150 years later, we have a meager total of five photographs of this unusual creature. They're grainy, monochrome and over a century old -- and they're all we have left to commemorate this once-abundant South African ungulate.
Here's what we know about the quagga today, and how naturalists are trying to right the wrongs of its past.
As research from Biology Letters explains, the quagga's (Equus quagga quagga) genetic history remains somewhat ambiguous. Its closest living relative, as most would easily be able to guess, is the plains zebra. Once believed to be a distinct species, genetic research now indicates the quagga was actually a subspecies of the plains zebra. Although they were similar in stature, they differed strikingly in terms of their coats.
While zebras are renowned for their coherent black-and-white stripes, the quagga's most distinctive feature was its partial brown-and-white striping. These stripes arched across the front half of its body, only to fade into a solid brown coat toward its rear. Its legs, belly and tail, on the other hand, were usually completely white.
Despite their incredibly unique look, quaggas were once very common across various grasslands in South Africa. They once roamed abundantly in herds in provinces known today as the Eastern Cape, Western Cape, Northern Cape and Free State. But as the encyclopedia Extinct Animals notes, local quagga populations began to rapidly decline in the 1850s, post-European settlement.
Although a few were sent to German, British and Dutch zoos, most attempts to establish quagga breeding programs were largely unsuccessful. As Extinct Animals notes, one such attempt was quashed when a lone stallion killed itself after losing its temper and bashing its own head into a wall.
Moreover, since quaggas were considered to be in competition with other domestic South African animals, quaggas were hunted in excess by both settlers and Afrikaners. They were also used as guards for other kinds of livestock, as they were both lively and aggressive towards intruders.
By 1878, the last remaining wild quagga in the Free State, South Africa, had died -- rendering them extirpated. One last quagga, a female, remained in the Natura Artis Zoo in Amsterdam, as research from the South African Journal of Science notes.
But after 16 years in captivity, this final quagga died, too, in 1883. Her cause of death remains unknown.
However, at the time, no one recognized the gravity of this quagga's demise. No special records were kept of the species, so no one realized the need to begin urgent preservation efforts. In fact, the Dutch zoo still went on to request another specimen. And since both hunters and locals in South Africa often confused quaggas for zebras, many were convinced they'd still be able to find one.
But, quickly, it became apparent that the quagga wasn't just another zebra. It was a distinct subspecies, which was now extinct. By 1900, a treaty was accepted and signed acknowledging this extinction.
Given that naturalists had no idea just how threatened quaggas were, only five known photos were ever taken of the species in total. All five were of the same mare, shot between the 1860s and 1870s in the Zoological Society of London's Zoo -- making her both the first and last quagga ever photographed.
Naturalist Henry Bryden captured how truly tragic of a loss this was in his 1889 novel: "That an animal so beautiful, so capable of domestication and use, and to be found not long since in so great abundance, should have been allowed to be swept from the face of the earth, is surely a disgrace to our latter-day civilization."
Both the life and death of the quagga remained somewhat of a mystery in the century that followed its extinction. It wasn't until the 1980s that scientists were able to extract DNA from the skins of the quaggas that remained preserved in natural history museum collections.
As 2009 research from the South African Journal of Wildlife Research notes, genetic analysis confirmed that the quagga was, indeed, a subspecies of the plains zebra, rather than wholly separate. Its DNA was effectively identical to that of the plains zebra.
This finding, in turn, opened the door to one perhaps one of the most ambitious conservation experiments of the modern era: the Quagga Project.
Since its launch nearly 40 years ago, the Quagga Project -- a South African initiative, led by naturalist Reinhold Rau -- has served to selectively breed plains zebras that resemble the quagga's unique appearance most closely.
Given the negligible genetic difference between the quagga and the plains zebra, selective breeding with the goal of reduced striping was the project's best shot at reviving the phenotype. This is but one of few, rare examples of what scientists refer to as "de-extinction by selective breeding" (or "back-breeding") which has also been attempted on dire wolves, the Galápagos giant tortoise and Aurochs.
Although the animals produced through this project are not at all genetically identical to the original quagga, they nevertheless look remarkably similar. Several generations have now been bred, and a number of "Rau quaggas" have been reintroduced into parts of their historic range.
While this could never truly bring the quagga back, this project is still both a valiant and symbolic attempt to restore what once was.