The South African subspecies of plains zebra that went extinct in 1883 was the quagga.
The quagga, usually classified as Equus quagga quagga, was a distinctive southern form of the plains zebra. Its coat was strongly striped across the head, neck, and front half of the body, while the hindquarters were mostly brown and unstriped. This gave it a more horse-like appearance than living zebras.
Quaggas lived mainly in South Africa, especially the Karoo and the southern Orange Free State. European settlers hunted them for meat and hides and because they competed with livestock for grazing. The last wild quagga disappeared by 1878. The final captive animal, a female at Amsterdam’s Natura Artis Magistra zoo, died on August 12, 1883.
A major taxonomic correction changed how scientists understand the animal. It was once treated as a separate zebra species, but mitochondrial-DNA research showed that it was a subspecies of the plains zebra. The Quagga Project breeds selectively striped plains zebras, but these animals are not genetically revived quaggas.