he quagga is considered to be a southern subspecies of the plain zebra found in the drier parts of South Africa, on grassy plains. Its northern limit was the Orange River in the west and the Vaal River in the east; its south-eastern border appears to have been the Great Kei River. The last free quaggas were probably those caught in 1870 although a small population may have survived south of the Vaal river until the severe drought of 1878