![]() Zebras can run 65 km/hour or 40 miles/hour, which gives them a fair shake at outrunning predators.Though zebras appear to be white with black stripes, they are actually black with white stripes-the skin under their coat is black.A herd of zebras is called a dazzle, though some prefer a zeal of zebras, and I have to say both are remarkably good names.A dazzling array of factsĪ few things you may not know about Zebras: In African countries, however, tsetse flies spread African Animal Trypanosomiasis, while midges and mosquitos spread African Horse Sickness, both of which can lead to death. If you want to run this test with your horse, there are zebra-striped fly sheets and more on the market.Īs an aside: North American flies and bugs are annoying, but they aren’t out to kill. In the next phase of the experiment striped blankets were placed on the bland coloured horses, and what do you know, the flies became less keen. While the flies buzzed around the zebras, they landed on them far less often than the poor evenly coated horse. In one experiment zebras and uniformly colored horses were placed in similar paddocks, with, no doubt, volunteers leaning on the fence watching to see what the flies did. The final and most promising theory is that the stripes keep the flies and bugs at bay. I suspect smell and vocal recognition would play more of a role in a zebra identifying Bob from Bill, but then I’m not a zebra. Each zebra has a unique stripe pattern, much the way we all have different fingerprints. Some biologists have tossed social recognition into the hat of ideas. Thermoregulation is another belief, and since I have no idea how that would even work, I will just agree that it sounds like a plausible idea. Again, nobody asked for my opinion, but I thought I’d give it anyway. Could it be the same for predators? When a few marauding lionesses approach a herd of zebra, might it be difficult for them to single out just one, in a sea of dizzying lines? I feel that yes, the lioness’s eyes may go a little whirly looking at all those stripes, though one dart toward the herd and they are going to disperse, and the confusion will lift. Stare at a series of vertical lines and your eyes will begin to play tricks on you. Recommended: My Encounter with the Ghosts of AfricaĪnother thought is that the stripes are designed to confuse. So, I say yes to camouflage, if anyone is asking. I would have thought elephants would always be easy to spot given their size and gray color against the tawny vegetation, but I can assure you those juggernauts can slip right past you without your knowledge. The wilds of Africa may not appear overly striped vertically or horizontally, but mother nature seems to know what she is doing.
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