Starting In The 1890s, People Tried To Domesticate Zebras.

The idea of taming zebras has long been an alluring yet frustrating endeavour for adventurers, naturalists, and colonisers alike. These strikingly beautiful animals have captivated human imagination for centuries, sparking attempts to harness their strength and resilience for practical use. However, despite a number of notable efforts and centuries of experimentation, zebras have never been successfully domesticated.

Early Attempts: Buffon’s Optimism and Dutch Rumours

Interest in domesticating zebras dates back to at least the 18th century, when French naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, theorised that zebras could replace horses as riding and harness animals. In the 1760s, Buffon believed that zebras' remarkable endurance and resistance to disease made them an ideal candidate for domestication. His ideas gained traction, and rumours circulated in Paris that the Dutch had already succeeded in training a team of zebras to pull a cart. These tales, though lacking in substance, were symptomatic of the growing belief in Europe that zebras could be tamed and put to work in much the same way as horses.

Lord Walter Rothschild with his team of carriage-pulling zebras. Rothschild of the global Rothschild banking family, owned his own zoo.

Colonial Efforts in Africa: Disease Resistance and Local Fauna

By the 19th and early 20th centuries, European colonisers ruling Africa became particularly interested in domesticating zebras. The challenges of African terrain and climate made it difficult to rely on European livestock, particularly horses, which often succumbed to diseases like trypanosomiasis, spread by the tsetse fly. Zebras, native to Africa, had evolved a resistance to these diseases and were seen as a potential substitute for horses and mules.

A German colonial officer takes a leap on the back of a tame zebra in German East Africa. 1910.

In colonial Africa, zebras were regarded with fascination and, sometimes, desperation. Colonists viewed the zebra’s disease resistance as a valuable asset, one that could be leveraged for military and transport purposes. For example, the German colonial army in what was then German East Africa (modern-day Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi) experimented with zebras as riding, pack, and draught animals. Zebras were even crossed with horses in an attempt to produce hybrids that would combine the zebra’s disease resistance with the horse’s strength and temperament. Despite some promising outcomes, these hybrid animals never gained widespread use.

A zebra pulls a carriage through Brixton, London. It is likely that the zebra and carriage were the property of music hall artist, Mr. Gustav-Grais, and were used to promote his shows. 1913.

Why Zebras Could Not Be Domesticated: Nature’s Defence Mechanisms

Despite their potential, zebras proved notoriously difficult to domesticate. While it is possible to tame individual zebras to a certain extent, they are not naturally suited to domestication like horses or donkeys. Unlike horses, which evolved in environments with fewer natural predators and developed a more docile and sociable nature, zebras have had to contend with an array of formidable predators, such as lions, hyenas, and crocodiles.

A zebra pulls a carriage in Calcutta, India. 1930.

To survive in such a dangerous landscape, zebras have evolved to be highly alert, quick to flee at the first sign of danger, and fiercely aggressive if cornered. Their natural instincts make them prone to panic when startled, which poses a significant challenge when trying to control or harness them. While a zebra may tolerate being broken to harness, it is far more likely to panic than a horse or mule when placed in stressful situations, making it an unreliable choice for labour.

Laffin Leslie, an 18-year-old dwarf, guides Jimmy, the “only rideable zebra in the world,” across a road in Berkshire, England. 1935.

Moreover, zebras have powerful self-defence mechanisms. Their strong avoidance responses and aggression towards threats can make them extremely dangerous. Zebras are known to be able to kill predators, including lions, with a single well-placed kick, a trait that has certainly hindered efforts to train them for domestic use. Familiarity with human hunter-gatherers throughout their evolutionary history has likely contributed to their strong avoidance of humans, further complicating domestication efforts.

Mrs. Martin Johnson rides a domesticated zebra named Bromar. 1923.

Zoologist Walter Rothschild’s Zebra Carriage

Despite these challenges, the allure of the zebra continued to attract attention. One of the most famous attempts to tame zebras was undertaken by British zoologist Walter Rothschild, an eccentric aristocrat known for his love of exotic animals. In the early 20th century, Rothschild trained a team of zebras to pull a carriage, which he famously drove to Buckingham Palace as a demonstration of their "tame" character. The sight of zebras drawing a carriage in the streets of London must have been a remarkable spectacle, and Rothschild’s efforts were widely publicised at the time.

However, despite this achievement, even Rothschild acknowledged the limitations of zebras. He realised that while they could be trained to pull a cart, they were far too small, stubborn, and aggressive to be ridden. This reflected a common theme in zebra domestication efforts: while they could sometimes be broken to harness, they were not a reliable or practical substitute for horses or mules.

In the late 19th century, it was fashionable to train zebras to pull carriages. Pictured is Mr. Hardy, who was a noted horserider and trainer. 1898.

Why, then, were zebras never domesticated, when humans have succeeded with so many other species? The answer lies in their evolutionary history and temperament. Horses, which were domesticated thousands of years ago, evolved in environments with fewer natural predators and had a naturally calmer disposition. This made them more amenable to domestication, allowing humans to selectively breed them for desired traits such as strength, endurance, and docility.

Zebras, on the other hand, evolved in a much harsher environment where survival depended on constant vigilance and the ability to flee from or fight off predators. Their natural wariness, coupled with their aggressive defence mechanisms, has made them unsuitable candidates for domestication. While taming individual zebras is possible, selectively breeding them for domestic traits has proved to be a near-impossible task.

Lord Walter Rothschild, the founder of the Natural History Museum at Tring, had a penchant for harnessing zebras.

Although the quest to tame zebras has been unsuccessful, the efforts of colonial armies, naturalists, and eccentric aristocrats have left a fascinating legacy. The hybridisation experiments carried out by the German colonial army, the zebra carriages of Walter Rothschild, and the persistent attempts to turn zebras into draught animals all reflect the enduring human fascination with these striking creatures.

Photographs from the era depict aristocrats posing proudly with zebra-drawn carts, a testament to the curiosity and determination of those who sought to make zebras part of the domestic animal world. Today, zebras remain wild and untamed, a symbol of the untameable spirit of Africa’s wildlife and the limits of human control over nature.