Extraordinary Sight

Someday you should go to San Simeon, California, at the central coast because herds of Zebra are at the open plains of Hearst Castle between Cambria and San Simeon, California.  They roam free southeast in the grassland of Hearst Castle.  Mostly you see them off the Highway on the other side of the fence; sometimes you won’t see them.  They have 82,000 acres in which to roam.  There are 151 Zebras at Hearst Castle; you don’t get to see all of them at the same time because they’re all in separate groups.  When my parents and I camped in Morro Bay, California we often saw the Zebras.  We saw them a total of 49 times.  I thought you might like to know about these creatures in case you and your families decide to go there.

Did you know there are three species of Zebra in Africa, but there's only one of the three species at Hearst Castle between Cambria and San Simeon, California?  Grevy’s Zebra live in eastern Africa and are about five feet tall at the shoulder, seven feet long, and weigh 780-950 pounds.  It has rounded ears, a long tail, narrow black stripes, and a white belly.  A single black stripe runs down its back from its mane to its tail.  This Zebra brays like a mule and usually lives alone or in small temporary groups.  The Mountain Zebra lives in southern Africa.  It is just four feet tall at the shoulder, seven feet long, and weigh 600 pounds.  This plump little animal has a long head with pointed ears, a brown muzzle, and a loose flap of skin under its chin.  It also has a short tuft of hair on its tail.  The Mountain Zebras stripes on its body are close together and has a white belly too just like the Grevy’s Zebra does.  The Mountain Zebras stripes on their front and back legs are bigger than the Grevy’s Zebras stripes on their front and back legs.  The Mountain Zebras thin legs and narrow hooves help it climb up dry stony hills and rocky cliffs.  Burchell’s Zebra, also called the Plains Zebra, is exactly what these are at Hearst Castle and is the most common Zebra in zoos and in the wild.  It lives on the grassy plains and in the woodlands of central and east Africa.  Each year these Zebras travel hundreds of miles in search of food.  A Burchell’s Zebra is about 4.5 feet tall at the shoulder, seven to eight feet long, and weigh 700 pounds.  It has wide stripes, a black muzzle, thick short legs, large hooves, and long tail.  Some Plains Zebras have light thin “shadow” stripes between the dark wide ones.  The Plains Zebras who do have the light thin ones between the dark wide ones are cream white and the Plains Zebras who don’t have the light thin ones between the dark wide ones are bright white.  The Plains Zebras you see at Hearst Castle are the ones without the light thin stripes between the dark wide ones and are bright white.  Zebras reach speed 40 mph.  No two Zebras have the same pattern of stripes on each side of its body; each is like a fingerprint.  The three species have a different number of stripes.  Grevy’s Zebras have 80 stripes per side, Mountain Zebras have 43 stripes per side, and Plains Zebras have 26 stripes per side.  Zebras are black with white stripes.

I believe the first five Zebras arrived at Hearst Castle by boat in 1927.  Their descendants have been living on the property for 97 years.  The original herds were part of a private Zoo created at Hearst Castle by William Randolph Hearst.  The Zoo also had lots of other exotic animals.  The Hearst Zoo closed in 1937, and the exotic animals were probably taken to other facilities.  Only the Zebras remain, and the Hearst corporation lets them roam free because they are not a threat to people.