the mountain zebra occurred in the mountain regions of the cape fold belt and along the southern portion of the great escarpment. thus, they were endemic to, amongst others, the western lower karoo and the little karoo. however, they were hunted to near extinction, leaving fewer than 100 individuals by the 1930s. conservation efforts since then brought their numbers up to 1200 by 1998, mainly by concentrating these zebra in nature reserves and protected areas, the most well-known of these being the mountain zebra national park near cradock in the great karoo. cape mountain zebras are still found in protected areas managed by cape nature, including the kamanassie and gamkaberg nature reserves.