By JO-MARIE BROWN
Murray Matuschka's Taupo farm has always been out of the ordinary but even he admits doing the odd double-take at his latest arrivals.
"It's so unusual on a New Zealand farm to see a couple of zebras, isn't it?" he laughs.
Four year-old Magnum and two year-old Shane have
been happily trotting around Mr Matuschka's green paddocks for three weeks now after arriving from Hamilton Zoo.
With seven other zebras to care for, zoo staff asked Mr Matuschka to look after the surplus pair indefinitely as it was the closest property to Hamilton with a zoological licence.
"In fact I resisted the idea for 12 months ... but they said once you've got them you'll love them and that's what's happened," he said.
"We've just been inundated with calls from people wanting to come and see them."
Mr Matuschka has a zoological licence from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry because he has farmed herds of sika and red deer, Himalayan thar and rare Indian blackbuck antelope for several years.
Since obtaining the licence, he has worked closely with Hamilton Zoo, which helps to monitor the health of his eight Indian blackbucks - and now his two zebras.
"The zoo told us to keep them short of feed and feed them hay ... but I kind of feel sorry for them and give them bread and apples," Mr Matuschka chuckles.
But despite having been bred in captivity at Hamilton Zoo, the two zebras' African origins still influence their behaviour, says zoo curator Maarten Vuursteen.
The pair have avoided sheltering under trees on the Taupo farm, instead preferring to graze in the middle of paddocks.
"They're prey animals and prey animals by nature like to be in the open so they can see what's going on around them," Mr Vuursteen explained.
"It's an instinctive thing."
Herald Feature: Conservation and Environment
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