Five things you might not know about zebras

1. There are three species of zebra living in the African wild: the plains (or Burchell’s) zebra, the Grévy's zebra and the mountain zebra. The plains zebra is the commonest species to be found. The Grévy's, which is found only in isolated patches of northern Kenya and Ethiopia, is officially endangered. The mountain zebra is also rare, with a ‘vulnerable’ conservation status, and is limited to parts of southern Africa.

2. If you’ve wondered whether zebras are white with black stripes or black with white stripes, it’s actually the latter – beneath their hair, zebras’ underlying colour is black. The opposite was previously thought to be true because of the animals’ white underbellies but embryo studies revealed that not to be the case.

 

3. The reason for zebras’ distinctive stripes is not known for certain. It is thought to be a form of camouflage – while it seems absurd that such a striking pattern could actually go unnoticed, the stripes may blend into the vertical lines of long grasses when seen at night, or by their main predator, the colour-blind lion. Another theory is that the stripes help to confuse predators attempting to pick off a single animal during a pursuit.

4. Zebras are highly social creatures. They live in family groups consisting of a stallion and a harem of mares, with their foals. Males lives alone or as part of bachelor groups until they are able to claim a female from its current family by force. Many groups can also team up as much bigger herds, most notably when around a quarter of a million zebras join the wildebeest for the Great Migration around the Serengeti and Masai Mara.

5. Zebras have several predators, including lions, hyenas, wild dogs, leopards and cheetahs. Zebras are fast on their feet and often outrun their attackers using a zigzag running pattern. And even when caught, a zebra can sometimes fight off a predator by kicking, biting and wrestling.