RAMONA – When Bob McClanahan
and his wife entered the front gates of a ranch two years ago, they
paused for a reality check.
"I had to look away and then
look back again," said McClanahan, who had driven 20 miles from
Poway to discuss buying some miniature horses.
After convincing himself he wasn't dreaming, McClanahan gazed at
the pastures, where several unmistakable horse-like animals sporting
black and white stripes stood.
No doubt about it. He was definitely seeing zebras.
Ranch owner Nancy Nunke said she enjoyed watching the expression
on McClanahan's face when he caught a glimpse of her zebras.
"It's fun to watch visitors do a double take when they see the
zebras among our horses," said Nunke, owner of the Spots 'N Stripes
Ranch.
The McClanahans, who have since moved to Ramona, have bought five
miniature horses from the ranch, Nunke said, but no zebras.
With her husband, David, and their partner, Jim Whipple, who
raised zebras in Lakeside for about 15 years, Nunke is one of the
largest breeders of zebras in the country.
Nunke emphasizes that zebras, although a member of the equine
family, are not just horses with stripes and require different
training methods. It is hardly surprising, then, that she has been
anticipating a film called "Racing Stripes."
"It's about a baby zebra named Stripes who is taken in by a
Kentucky racing stable," she said. "He grows up wanting to be a
racehorse."
The film, which combines live action and computer animation, was
released nationwide Friday.
While enthusiastic about the movie and the exposure zebras will
receive, Nunke has some concerns. She remembers what happened when
Walt Disney Studios released the 1996 live-action remake of "101
Dalmatians."
So does Megan Richards, director of marketing and public
relations for the San Diego Humane Society.
"When the remake of '101 Dalmatians' hit theaters, a significant
number of families decided to bring Dalmatians into their homes
without taking a number of critical factors into consideration, like
a Dalmatian's high energy level and often rougher play style,"
Richards said. "We did see an increase in the numbers of Dalmatians
in animal welfare facilities."
Nunke hopes there won't be a similar surge in impulse buying
spawned by "Racing Stripes."
"At prices of $8,000 and up, zebras are much pricier than
Dalmatians," she said. "But I would hate to see even one person
getting a zebra just because they thought it would be a fun thing to
do as a result of the movie."
Unlike horses, zebras don't have generations of domestication in
their history, Nunke said.
"They are much closer to their wild instinct of fight or flight.
I like to say zebras are 25 percent horse, 25 percent donkey and 50
percent zebra," she said.
Zebras have much keener senses that horses, particularly sight. A
zebra colt is able to recognize his mother's stripes from among
hundreds of striped animals, Dunke said, and a male zebra can
recognize his mares.
Zebras are much stronger than horses, and that requires trainers
to be constantly alert because they can be unpredictable.
And they are much more attune to changes around them. Nunke said
that while a horse probably wouldn't notice that she had moved a
water bucket from one side of an aisle to another, "a zebra will
stand there and stare at that water bucket because it isn't in the
right place."
Nunke said there is an increasing number of new and often
inexperienced zebra breeders in the United States. She said she is
especially concerned about inbreeding among these privately owned
animals.
Importing zebras was prohibited in the 1960s to protect wild
populations and prevent smuggling, Nunke said. That means all of
about 3,000 privately owned zebras in the country now are
descendants of the few hundred that were in the country before the
ban.
"Many new zebra owners are sharing one another's animals for
breeding, without realizing they may be closely related animals,"
Nunke said. "This inbreeding can lead to animals with physical and
mental deficiencies."
Those include "parrot mouth," a condition similar to buck teeth,
or zebras with elongated backs or legs that aren't straight.
"There is no question that inbreeding is causing it," she said.
As a breeder, Nunke said she believes she bears a responsibility
that goes beyond her own animals. She is attempting to track the
pedigrees of the U.S. zebra population by encouraging owners to list
their animals with IZZZA, an international registry for zebras. The
purpose is to avoid breeding pairs that are closely related or
breeding zebras that have genetic defects.
Nunke said her interest in zebras began 35 years ago when she was
breeding quarter horses while living in Toronto. A small wildlife
center asked her to look at at a zebra with aggression problems
because of her experience with horses.
"After working with the zebra and fixing the problem, I was
hooked," she said. She has raised zebras on and off since then, and
partnered with Whipple three years ago to raise them full time.
Private owners of Grant's zebras, which are not endangered in the
wild, are not required to have a permit, Nunke said. Spots 'N
Stripes Ranch also has a few Grevy's zebras, which require both
state and federal permits. Whipple, her partner, holds those
permits, she said.
About 600 Grevy's zebras are being successfully bred at zoos
around the world, including the San Diego Wild Animal Park, but
their population in the wild has shrunk to about 2,500.
Today, in addition to breeding miniature horses, donkeys, mules
and a host of exotic hybrid animals such as zonkeys and zorses, the
offspring of zebra stallions and female donkeys and horses,
respectively, Nunke raises up to 10 zebra foals each year. About 25
zebras live at the Ramona ranch on Old Julian Highway.
Training zebras begins by introducing foals to human scent, sound
and touch to make them realize humans are not predators. Within a
few weeks, young zebras have been haltered and led over obstacles,
are accustomed to being put in trailers, taking baths, picking up
their feet for trimming and often competing at horse shows.
"Very few other breeders or owners have successfully trained
zebras," she said. "But we are always willing to share our training
techniques."
But it may be months, or in some cases years, Nunke said, before
she feels a zebra is ready to be sold.
And not to just anyone.
The buyers of zebras and the hybrids are primarily longtime horse
owners who are interested in "a new challenge, their uniqueness, a
conversation piece." Zoos share zebras bred from their own herds,
and do not buy from private owners, Nunke said.
"We encourage people to come to our ranch for a three-day seminar
to learn about these amazing animals, and to see if they are
prepared to make the time and financial commitment to continue the
training process," she said.
Her commitment and concern for her zebras was illustrated when a
casting agent for Warner Bros. called during the production of
"Racing Stripes" to buy two trained zebra mares. Nunke was
interested, but only if she could buy back her animals after filming
was completed.
She was told the animals would be taken to Africa for some of the
filming and, because of the ban on importing zebras, would not be
permitted back into the country.
"In the end, we decided not to involve our animals in the movie.
We loved these particular mares so much, we just couldn't part with
them to another country," she said.
The film was made using a zebra from Florida. The animal remains
in Africa.
More information about Nancy and David Nunke's ranch can be found
at www. spotsnstripes.com. Zebra registration information is
available at www.izzza.com.
Nick Thomas is a freelance writer.
