Most widespread distribution of all wild equids (Hack et al. 2002)
Eastern and Southern Africa (from Klingel 2013 unless otherwise noted)
- Regions east of the Nile River
- South from southern (S) Sudan and S Ethiopia to northern (N) Namibia and N South Africa
- Most live in Kenya and Tanzania
- Countries are home to c. 75% of all wild individuals (Hack et al. 2002)
- Subspecific distribution
- E. q. borensis - portions of Sudan, Uganda, and Kenya
- E. q. boehmi - portions of Ethiopia, Somalia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Zambia
- E. q. crawshayi - portions of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique
- E. q. chapmani - portions of Angola, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa
- E. q. burchellii - portions of Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland, and South Africa
- Equus quagga quagga - extinct since c. 1883; formerly in Cape Province, South Africa
- Locally extinct in Burundi and Lesotho (Hack and Lorenzen 2008)
- Possibly extinct in Angola
Recent distribution (from Klingel 2013 unless otherwise noted)
- Historical distribution much broader
- Distribution within the past 100,000 years smaller than historical range
- Previously present across the African continent
- Fossil remains from North Africa (Churcher and Richardson 1978)
