03-24-2020, 06:33 AM
(This post was last modified: 03-24-2020, 06:34 AM by Offishial Business Outdoors.)
Something interesting from the CDFW website. whats black and white and out of place in California?
Question: I am a South African. I and four others were travelling by car on the 101 north from Santa Barbara, and somewhere just south of the elephant seal sighting point on the coast we were astounded to see a large herd of zebras grazing in a large grassed field. Any information you can give about these zebras would be gratefully received! All five of us would dearly love to know how they got there. I accused my daughter, who was driving at the time, of having taken a wrong road, as I thought we were back in Africa! (James R.)
Answer: Your eyes weren’t deceiving you. There is a herd of about 120 wild zebras living on the coastal range off Highway 1 near Hearst Castle in San Simeon. We have famed publisher William Randolph Hearst to thank for them. At the height of Hearst’s career, he imported a host of exotic animals onto his property – including bears, tigers, monkeys, storks, an elephant and some zebras – to build what was then the world’s largest private zoo. The zoo closed in 1937 due to financial constraints. Many of the animals were sold or donated to other zoos, but some were set free, including non-native elk, barbary sheep, sambar deer and a small population of Himalayan Tahr goats. According to Hearst Ranch staff, zebras were also imported to the property during the 1960s by a Hollywood production company. The production company paid for the zebras to live there so they could access them for use in films and television.
California law does not restrict animals in the taxonomic family [i]Equidae[/i], which includes horses, donkeys and zebras. Because zebras are not on the state’s list of restricted species, they are not regulated by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW).
The zebras – a novelty sighting for many Highway 1 motorists – are not domesticated in any meaningful way. Staff at Hearst Ranch maintain a small herd of cattle on the southern portion of the property, in part to keep the zebras from wandering onto neighboring land. Other than that, the zebras aren’t fed or managed and are considered completely wild and free. According to both staff at the ranch and CDFW employees in the area, the zebras don’t appear to have any negative impact on native wildlife.
Question: I am a South African. I and four others were travelling by car on the 101 north from Santa Barbara, and somewhere just south of the elephant seal sighting point on the coast we were astounded to see a large herd of zebras grazing in a large grassed field. Any information you can give about these zebras would be gratefully received! All five of us would dearly love to know how they got there. I accused my daughter, who was driving at the time, of having taken a wrong road, as I thought we were back in Africa! (James R.)
Answer: Your eyes weren’t deceiving you. There is a herd of about 120 wild zebras living on the coastal range off Highway 1 near Hearst Castle in San Simeon. We have famed publisher William Randolph Hearst to thank for them. At the height of Hearst’s career, he imported a host of exotic animals onto his property – including bears, tigers, monkeys, storks, an elephant and some zebras – to build what was then the world’s largest private zoo. The zoo closed in 1937 due to financial constraints. Many of the animals were sold or donated to other zoos, but some were set free, including non-native elk, barbary sheep, sambar deer and a small population of Himalayan Tahr goats. According to Hearst Ranch staff, zebras were also imported to the property during the 1960s by a Hollywood production company. The production company paid for the zebras to live there so they could access them for use in films and television.
California law does not restrict animals in the taxonomic family [i]Equidae[/i], which includes horses, donkeys and zebras. Because zebras are not on the state’s list of restricted species, they are not regulated by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW).
The zebras – a novelty sighting for many Highway 1 motorists – are not domesticated in any meaningful way. Staff at Hearst Ranch maintain a small herd of cattle on the southern portion of the property, in part to keep the zebras from wandering onto neighboring land. Other than that, the zebras aren’t fed or managed and are considered completely wild and free. According to both staff at the ranch and CDFW employees in the area, the zebras don’t appear to have any negative impact on native wildlife.
