What it is
The quagga was a subspecies of the plains zebra, brown on the hindquarters and striped on the head and neck. IUCN treats Equus quagga as Least Concern and the quagga subspecies as extinct. It is known from skins, skulls, and a few photographs of one mare.
Range
The Karoo and southern Highveld of South Africa. It did not occur farther north than other plains zebras.
What happened
Settler hunting for meat and hides, and the conversion of grazing to sheep and cattle, removed the wild population in the 1860s–1870s. The last captive mare died on 12 August 1883 at Artis in Amsterdam. A later breeding project uses plains zebras to mimic the coat; it does not resurrect the historical subspecies.
When / status
Extinct in the wild by the late 1870s; last captive death 12 August 1883.
Human role
Colonial hunting and pasture conversion — a documented human-caused subspecies extinction.
Sources
IUCN Red List (Equus quagga; quagga subspecies extinct); Artis record, 1883.