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A more iconic species one could not hope to find on the African plains. Not only striking because of their stripes, but the thundering hooves and reverberating vocalisations of these active animals make them an integral thread in the vibrant tapestry of the savanna. An intricate social system, an intriguing behavioural repertoire and familial links to the beloved horse makes spending time with these charismatic creatures nothing short of delightful. And nothing short of breath-taking when the herds amass to migrate across the Serengeti, braving crocodile-infested river crossings on their way. Three species of zebra are found in Africa. The plains zebra is most common in savanna systems, the larger mountain zebra taking its place in more hilly country and the mule-like Grevy’s zebra, with its pin-striping and frayed ears, occurs in the semi-arid habitats of Kenya and Ethiopia.
A dazzle of zebras
Adapted from Game Ranger in your Backpack © Megan Emmett
The zebra is iconic with its black and white stripes. Each animal has a unique pattern like a fingerprint. Theories abound regarding the purpose of the stripes.
Theories include thermoregulation, camouflaging effect -the stripes break up the shape of an animal against a dappled background – and predator defence i.e. the blur of stripes in a group of fleeing zebra makes it difficult for predators to identify individual targets but easier for the zebras to see one another and remain in a tight group. Plains zebra in southern Africa have brown ‘shadow stripes’ on the rump between the other stripes.
These elegant animals have a brilliant sense of sight, smell and hearing which alerts them to threats in the open woodlands where they live.
An erect mane traces the line of their spines from forehead to shoulder. The mane gives an indication of health, flopping over in sickly animals. This is useful as gas from their digestive systems makes them perpetually round bellied so even a hungry zebra looks fat.
Zebra have two rows of well-developed incisor teeth and stallions have sharp canine teeth, which can deliver very painful bites.
Biting is employed in dominance disputes or is defence against predators. Zebra use their strong movable upper lips to push grass between their sharp incisors and snip it off while feeding.
The long, tufted tail flicks continuously, acting as a fly-swatter and zebra often stand head-to-toe to mutually keep flies off one another’s faces.
Stripes make it tricky to tell the sexes apart and looking beneath the tail can assist. Mares have a broader black wedge under the tail and between the hind legs, which is much narrower in stallions.
The short, green grass of spring or post-fire flushes is most favoured by zebra but they will also eat taller grass, which they subsequently crop quite short.
Wildebeest, antelope and warthogs can then make use of the shorter pastures in a grazing succession and all species benefit from the shared vigilance of associating together. Zebra are primarily bulk grazers but in dry conditions, may sometimes browse or dig up rhizomes. They are hind gut fermenters and digest large amounts of roughage, producing large quantities of gas that bloats their bellies contributing to a well-rounded appearance and much flatulence when they run away.
Zebra thoroughly enjoy dust-bathing, rolling over onto their backs in patches of loose earth. This smothers parasites and plays a thermoregulatory role.
Individuals of a herd may line up to enjoy a favoured rubbing post. Heads and shoulders are relieved of every itch against objects like tree stumps and termite mounds.
Zebra also like to sleep. They generally rest during the heat of the day or for longer periods after dark. They may remain standing or lie on their sides (especially younger animals) but one animal generally remains vigilant for danger during these times.
Lions and hyena prey on adult zebra and leopard and cheetah also prey on foals. A stallion defends himself and his harem with powerful kicks and biting.
Mares and foals typically flee danger as a group and the stallion may run behind. Usually alarm is accompanied by a high-pitched and repeated “kwa-ha-ha” contact call.
Zebra are generally found in close proximity to permanent water. Because they consume much roughage in their diets, they must drink daily.
They prefer clean water and will carefully skim this off the surface of a waterhole or dig a hole beside it allowing clean water to filter into the depression before drinking. In some areas zebra migrate in order to maintain access to water as well as good grazing and are therefore not territorial. Many harems aggregate together in productive areas.
Zebra are not territorial, rather a stallion protects a harem of 4-6 mares and their foals. Each harem is fearlessly defended by the resident stallion that fights violently to them.
Colts leave the natal herd at about two years old. Between five and 12 years old they begin abducting fillies from other herds to create their own harems. Contenders may also fight amongst themselves for access to fillies. Once a young male mounts and impregnates a filly, she becomes his. This may take as long as a year to accomplish. He then pursues another.
There is a rank hierarchy amongst the mares in a harem according to age and also to the order of abduction. The first filly that is abducted becomes the dominant mare.
Zebra may queue up in rank order to perform certain tasks such as rubbing against rocks or termite mounds. The herd mutually groom one another as a bonding exercise.
Gestation is a year long and foals are born well-developed. Foals can stand on their own just ten minutes after birth, walking in 30 minutes and running within the hour.
When a foal is born, the mother screens it from other zebra to allow her stripe pattern to imprint on the foal. Baby zebra are brown and hairy.
There’s no limit to how much you’ll know, depending how far beyond zebra you go
Dr Seuss