Cape mountain zebra
The Cape mountain zebra differs slightly from the Hartmann's subspecies, being stockier and having longer ears and a larger dewlap. Adults have a shoulder height of 116 to 128  cm, making them the most lightly built subspecies of zebra. There is slight sexual dimorphism with mares having a mass of around 234  kg and stallions weighing around 250–260  kg.
Plains zebra
Zebras have been featured in African art and culture for millenia. They have been depicted in rock art in Southern Africa (modern Botswana, Nambia and South Africa) dating from 20,000–28,000 years ago, though not as commonly as antelope species like eland. How the zebra got its stripes has been the subject of folk tales, some of which involve it being scorched by fire. The San people associated zebra stripes with water, rain and lighting due to its dazzling pattern. The zebra has also been associated with beauty and the women of various societies would paint much of their bodies in stripes. For the Shona people of Zimbabwe, the zebra is a totem animal, along with the eland, buffalo, lion and monkey. The zebra is praised in a poem as a "iridescent and glittering creature". Its stripes have symbolised the joining of male and female and at Great Zimbabwe, zebra stripes decorate what is believed to be a "domba", a premartial school meant to initiate woman into adulthood. In the Shona language, the name "madhuve" means "woman/women of the zebra totem" and is a given name for girls in Zimbabwe.