Interesting facts about Zebras : Zebras are African equines with distinctive black and white striped coats. There have three species, the Grevy’s Zebra, the mountain Zebra and the plain Zebra and they are all in the list of endangered and threatened species. They are fond and live in the treeless grasslands and savannah woodlands of East and Southern Africa
The Grevy’s Zebra is largely and almost exclusively found in Northern Kenya while on Kenya Safaris Tours. This unique species of Zebra is known for its striking, tall appearance, thin stripes and elegant gait. The largest population of Grevy’s Zebra are found in Kenya with a few other species are found in Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia but has since been driven to extinction in those countries.
The Zebra strips , although seen as the zebra’s unique which gives the animal it unique identity is also used to protect it from biting flies. This means that the stripes on the animals skin are just more decorations.
The Zebras are known to protect themselves by kicking , biting and pushing predators. They produce these characteristics also when another male attempts to take over their herds or when the male want to display dominance while mating. They have unity when attacked ,other zebras come to its defence and form a circle around it to try and ward off the predators. Their most common form of their self-defence is running very fast, they can run as 40 to 55 miles per hour to escape from threats.
Although Zebras are known to make noise , they communicate to each other using facial expressions and through the flicking and movements of their ears. They are known to be very shy animals and they take a flight and run with the slightest scare. Zebras when greeting each other by sticking their ears straight up while pushing their faces forward. When they are frightened, zebras push their ears forward and they pull their ears back when they are angry.
The Zebras lie down while sleeping at night just like any other Herbivore but during the day, Zebras can sleep while standing. This is to allow them to stay alert in case of a nearby danger especially by the attacks of the known predators such as Lions , cheetahs and Leopards.
All the Zebra only ground in Africa and they vary in species depending on the region of their location. The Grevy’s Zebra is found in the grasslands and savannah of specifically Kenya to thrill while on Wildife Kenya Safaris and Ethiopia. The mountain Zebra is only found in Southwest Africa, these species of Zebra prefer dry , stony and mountainous habitats and the plains or the common zebra which is found on the treeless grasslands and savannah within East and Southern Africa.
All the Zebra species are herbivores, they eat almost all types of grass, some leaves and trees which are found in Africa. They enjoy grassing in the woodlands, at times eating fallen fruits from a tree ,leaves ,twigs and sometimes bark from trees.
The black and white stripes helps the Zebra to camouflage, because most of the predators such as lions and cheetahs are colour blind. The Black and white stripes are perfectly camouflaging with the tall grasses in the wild. A still Zebra standing in the wild , can perfectly camouflage with the tall grasses and becoming difficult to be spotted by predators.
One other interesting facts about the Zebras is that each Zebra stripe is unique to the animal. This means that there are no two Zebra which can be found to be having similar stripes. The stripes are as unique to them as fingerprints are unique to a human. When seen with the normal human eye the stripes looks the same but this unique feature of the Zebras helps them identify each other. A Zebra is able to identify and track a family member by looking at the pattern of its stripes .The black and white stripes also helps the Zebra in temperature control to their bodies ,in the morning the black stripes absorb the heat from the sun and warm up the body , while the white stripes helps them cool their bodies as they graze in the fields by reflecting more light, Interesting facts about Zebras
Zebras are highly social animals, they move and graze in groups in the wild. A group of zebras is known as a Zeal, a herd or a dazzle of zebras. The head of each group is known as the stallion just like a horse. The herd of zebras consist of females and their offspring.
Zebras are fast runners , this is one of their survival skill because most of its predators are also fast runners. Zebras run just like horses by galloping and pushing themselves forward from their hind legs. Zebras speed varies depending on their subspecies, the Grevy’s Zebra and the plain zebras species are the fastest with a speed of between 40-43 mph , the mountain Zebra have speed of between 35-40mph.
Zebras have two sets of teeth, while the baby Zebra is born without teeth ,milk teeth start to grow when the animal is about one week old. The first teeth to grow are the front incisors, there are 24 milk teeth twelve incisors and twelve premolars which usually emerges within one week of birth. By the time a Zebra is two years old ,it would have developed adult teeth which replace the milk teeth which would have been shaded off. An Adult Zebra has 40 teeth which begin to grow when the Zebra is two years old.
Zebras today are classified as endangered species because of many factor such as habitat loss, competition for livestock and poaching. Zebras are completely extinct in some initial habitat and very fee are today spread across Africa. Among the three species the most affected is the Grevy’s Zebra which in 1970s their population was between 15,000 and 20,000 but they can now only be found primarily in Kenya.
Where to see Zebras in East Africa
- Serengeti National park
- Maasai Mara National Reserve
- Lewa conservancy
- Tsavo national park
- Amboseli National park
- Lake Nakuru National park
- Tarangire National Park
- Lake Manyara National Park
- Nairobi national park
- Marsabit National Park
