When Alex and Miranda Moore bought a historic Humboldt County ranch on the edge of the iconic Lost Coast five years ago, the deal came down to a single condition. It wasn’t financing, insurance or whether the century-old barn still stood square. It was the zebras.

“When we bought the property, you know, my wife was adamant that the zebras came with it,” Alex Moore told SFGATE. He brought it up with the realtor, who assured him right away: “He said that, ‘You can have the zebras. Like, absolutely, they come with the property.’”

The animals — five of them now — are a legacy of previous owners who tried to transform the ranch into a French country estate, complete with imported thatch roofs and hand-chiseled stone walls. That vision fizzled, leaving behind half-finished projects and a herd of zebras that have since claimed the property as their own. “They don’t want to leave the property. They don’t want to go out of the gate,” Moore said. “That’s their place, and they make that well known.”

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The Moores’ 788-acre property sits at 26000 Mattole Road in Humboldt County, found on the western edge of the Mattole Valley and about a 45-minute drive south of the Victorian village of Ferndale. It lies just below Cape Mendocino, the westernmost point in California, and just north of the King Range Wilderness, the federally managed sweep of mountains and shoreline that defines the Lost Coast. The ranch is now on the market for $10.95 million. Locals sometimes call it the “Zebra Ranch.” Moore pointed to its older........

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