as in the great karoo, antelope and other big game inhabited the little karoo in the past. however, the dominant zebra was not the quagga, but the cape mountain zebra, ("equus zebra zebra") which is adapted for life on rugged, mountainous terrain. their hooves are harder and faster-growing than those of burchell’s zebra ("equus quagga burchellii"), which lives on the plains. the two species are, therefore, rarely seen in the same habitat. the quagga is closely related to burchell's zebra, and appears also to have been confined to the plains.