Zebra Colors: The Animal With The Most Curious Skin
The zebra is one of the most recognizable African animals: its black and white striped skin makes it unique. But … What are the colors of the zebra like? Are they white with black stripes, or black with white stripes? We will tell you about this and other questions below.
Zebra characteristics
The zebra is an equine, that is, it is closely related to horses and donkeys. When we talk about zebras, we are actually talking about three different animal species, which have striped fur in common: the common zebra, the mountain zebra, and the Grevy’s zebra.
As there are three different species, each one has its own characteristics, such as the striped pattern on its body. Beyond that, they resemble each other the same as they resemble horses or other equines – they even have different behavior.
All three species are smaller than horses: Grevy’s zebra, for example, grows to 1.5 meters tall at the withers and weighs almost 400 kilograms. Like other equines, they have long legs and large ears: they can move them in all directions and they have very fine hearing.
They are herbivorous animals, feeding only on grass and leaves. They eat mostly in the morning and in the afternoon, thus resting and alert during the central part of the day.
Different species of zebras need different amounts of water, especially during the dry season. The mountain zebra climbs to altitudes where it is colder and therefore with more frequent rains, while the common and Grevy’s zebra must migrate across the African continent in search of rivers or water sources.
Zebra habitat
Zebras live in the savannah, a complex ecosystem with large expanses of tall grass prairie, many shrubs, and few trees. The mountain zebra is used to living in rugged terrain, while the other two live in the plains.
All zebras live on the African continent. Almost all of them are concentrated in southern and eastern Africa, although there are small groups in the plains of Kenya, which is located almost in the center of the continent.
It is known that centuries ago they had a much more extensive territory, but they have been withdrawing to their usual positions. All species of zebras are in danger of extinction mainly due to two problems:
- Poaching for your fur. One of the zebra species, the quagga, became extinct in the early 19th century for this very reason.
- Large areas of livestock, which destroy their habitat or make them compete for food.
Zebra behavior
Zebras live in small herds, made up of several females, foals and a strong male. There are many males without a herd who are considered nomads, although throughout their lives they can be integrated into one.
In times of scarcity of food or abundance of predators, several herds may join together to form large groups of hundreds of animals, although they will later divide into the original small herds. In this way, joining so many striped animals, the lions are confused, that they cannot choose a single zebra to attack.
They are social animals that are always on the alert to protect themselves from threats. They sleep standing up and doing watch shifts at night, although during noon they can lie down: they are placed in pairs, each looking in one direction.
Zebra colors: black with white stripes? White with black stripes?
After much discussion, biologists have come to the following conclusion about zebra colors: they are black with white spots. They have decided it like this after making these observations:
- Fetuses are black and develop white stripes shortly before birth.
- The quagga only had stripes on its neck and front legs, while its entire rear was dark in color.
- A black zebra with white dots instead of stripes was discovered.
- White stripes grow with the body: the older the animal, the larger its stripes.
- When there is a lot of black space without white streaks, a secondary streak appears in shades of brown.
Zebras are close relatives of donkeys and horses, although they have never been domesticated. They are in danger of extinction due to hunting, their fur and their unique stripes, although there are large groups living in protected parks and the biologists who take care of them are optimistic.
