Cousins, not the same animal
Zebras are equids, members of the horse family. Horses, donkeys and zebras all belong to one genus, Equus, which arose about 4 to 4.5 million years ago, and within it there are three living lines: the horses, the asses, which include the donkey, and the zebras. So a zebra is a close cousin of the horse, the way a donkey is, but not a horse.
Three kinds of zebra
There are three zebra species: the plains zebra, the mountain zebra, and the Grevy's zebra, the largest of the three.
Closer to donkeys than to horses
Zebras are more closely related to the asses than to horses. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance puts the split between zebras and the Asiatic wild asses at about 1.6 million years ago, and a 2014 genetic study dates the ancestor of today's asses and zebras spreading into the Old World to 2.1 to 3.4 million years ago.
Different chromosomes
Their chromosome counts differ widely. A domestic horse has 64, a donkey 62, a Grevy's zebra 46, a plains zebra 44 and a mountain zebra 32.
Zorses and zonkeys
Zebras can breed with horses and donkeys. A male zebra and a female horse make a zorse, and a male zebra and a female donkey a zedonk or zonkey. The hybrids are normally sterile, largely because of the difference in chromosome numbers, though a few exceptions have been reported.
How zebras differ from horses
In build and behavior a zebra is much like a horse, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance says. The differences are the stripes, the short, upright, brush-like mane of the plains zebra, the big ears and long, narrow head of the Grevy's zebra, and above all temperament. The Smithsonian's National Zoo counts their untamable wild nature among the things that set zebras apart.
A UC Davis study found that plains zebras get used to people far less than horses do. Where both lived around people, the zebras fled when a person was about 37 meters away and the horses at about 17. Zebras were never domesticated.
Rubs and his herd of mini horses
Rubs is the one zebra at Kaleidoscope Desert, so the six mini horses and two mini donkeys are his herd. He shares his hay with them, and the little group moves around the grounds together, a zebra beside his horse and donkey cousins.
Kaleidoscope Desert is a nonprofit art and animal sanctuary on 7.5 acres in Morongo Valley, California, 15 minutes from Joshua Tree and 20 minutes from Palm Springs, where more than 100 animals roam free among the art.
You meet them on the Sanctuary Tour, a guided walk of about 90 minutes that runs daily, with someone who knows every resident by name and their stories. The animals come over on their own terms. Every visit is for adults, 18 and over.
100% of proceeds go to the animals: their rescue, their care, and the sanctuary they live in. Kaleidoscope Desert Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit.