zebra

zebra, any of three species of strikingly black-and-white striped mammals of the horse family Equidae (genus Equus): the plains zebra (E. quagga), which is found in rich grasslands over much of eastern and southern Africa; Grevy’s zebra (E. grevyi), which lives in arid, sparsely wooded areas in Kenya and a few small areas in Ethiopia; and the mountain zebra (E. zebra), which inhabits dry upland plains in Namibia and a few scattered areas in western South Africa. The plains zebra is made up of six subspecies: E. quagga crawshaii (Crawshay’s zebra), E. quagga borensis (half-maned zebra), E. quagga boehmi (Grant’s zebra), E. quagga chapmani (Chapman’s zebra), E. quagga burchellii (Burchell’s zebra), and E. quagga quagga (quagga, which is extinct). The mountain zebra is made up of two subspecies: E. zebra hartmannae (Hartmann’s mountain zebra) and E. zebra zebra (Cape Mountain zebra).

Zebras are closely related to domestic horses. They are large single-hoofed ungulates built for speed and long-distance migrations. Zebras typically stand about 120–140 cm (47–55 inches) at the shoulder. Male Grevy’s zebras are larger than females; in the plains zebra and the mountain zebra, the sexes are nearly the same size. Zebras exhibit no other sexual dimorphism except for males having spade-shaped canines used in fighting. The teeth of all three species are adapted for grazing. Zebras possess strong upper and lower incisors for cropping grasses and large high-crowned teeth for processing silicate-rich grasses that wear down molars.

All zebras are dark-skinned animals. The zebra’s stripes arise from melanocytes (specialized skin cells) that selectively determine the pigmentation of the animal’s fur. These cells transfer melanin (a skin-darkening pigment produced by melanocytes) into some of the animal’s growing hairs. Hairs that contain melanin appear black, whereas those without melanin appear white.

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The three species are easily distinguished by the pattern of their stripes. In the plains zebra the stripes are wide and widely spaced; some subspecies have lighter “shadow stripes” between the main stripes. The northern subspecies of the plains zebra are more fully striped than the southern ones, in which the striping of the lower legs tends to give way to white. The mountain zebra has smaller stripes than the plains zebra; its stripes are closely spaced on its head and shoulders but widely spaced on its haunches. The mountain zebra also has a peculiar gridlike pattern of stripes on the rump. The stripes of Grevy’s zebra are the narrowest and most closely spaced of the three species; its belly is white. Where stripes converge on the shoulders, all zebras have triangular chevrons. Grevy’s zebra is the only species with a second chevron on the rump where the stripes converge. In all zebra species, the stripes are like fingerprints, allowing scientists to easily identify individuals.

Many scientists maintain that the zebra’s stripes evolved to thwart horse fly infestation, which would have reduced the chance for disease. Indeed, there is evidence that the zebra’s stripes disrupt the horizontal pattern of polarized light reflected from dark surfaces that normally attracts horse flies. This would make the zebra’s striped fur less attractive to horse flies than the solid-coloured fur common among horses. A 2019 study of horses and captive zebras in Britain appears to support this notion; the study showed that the zebra’s black-and-white striped pattern appeared to confuse biting horse flies, which landed upon and bit zebras less frequently than they did horses.

Two types of mating systems are observed in zebras. Like the horse, the mountain and the plains zebras live in small family groups consisting of a stallion and several mares with their foals. The females that form the harem are unrelated. The harem remains intact even when the stallion leading the harem is replaced by another male. When moving, stallions usually remain in the rear but still maintain control over the movement of the herd.

In Grevy’s zebra, males are territorial. Males create dung piles, or middens, to mark territorial boundaries that typically follow physical features such as streambeds. Increased reproductive success is enjoyed by males that occupy territories through which females must pass in order to gain access to safe drinking areas or prime grazing sites. Females and bachelor males form unstable groups without any clear dominance hierarchy. Adult males and females do not form lasting bonds, but related females may occupy the same grazing areas. Grevy’s stallions maintain territories as large as 10–15 square km (4–6 square miles). However, females and bachelor male groups use annual home ranges of several thousand square kilometres. Territoriality has evolved because resources are widely scattered and easily defendable.

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With plentiful food, small groups may coalesce into large herds, but the smaller groups still retain their identities. Zebras often form mixed herds with other mammals such as wildebeests and giraffes, which gain protection from predators by the alertness of the zebras. Zebras with young colts avoid predators such as hyenas by forming a cluster around the mother and young rather than bolting. A stallion will attack hyenas and wild dogs if his harem is threatened. Unless hyenas hunt in large groups, their attacks on zebras are often unsuccessful.

Available surface water is a critical need of zebras during the hot dry season. Both Grevy’s and mountain zebras excavate pits in dry streambeds to obtain subsurface water, and they defend these waterholes against strangers. After these species have moved on, the drinking holes are used by other animals such as oryxes, springboks, plains zebras, kudus, giraffes, hyenas, and lions.

Like other perissodactyls, zebras digest their food in the cecum, a blind sac at the far end of the small intestine where complex compounds such as cellulose are acted upon by symbiotic bacteria. Cecal digestion is less efficient for digesting grasses than ruminant digestion, but zebras compensate by ingesting more forage than do ruminants. This forage often includes grass stems and leaves too high in fibre or low in protein for ruminants to digest effectively and meet metabolic needs. Food travels rapidly through the cecum, and forage passes faster through a zebra than, for example, a wildebeest. Thus, even though zebras are less efficient than wildebeests in extracting protein from their food, they can extract more protein from low-quality grasses because of their faster rate of digestion and assimilation. The selective advantage of this approach is that zebras can subsist on range grasses unsuitable for antelope, an especially important adaptation during periods of drought or seasonal declines in forage quality. The disadvantage is that zebras must spend a considerable part of their day feeding to maintain the high rate of intake. The increased time spent foraging exposes them to greater risks of predation.

All three zebra species have decreased in abundance through human activities, and Grevy’s zebra is listed as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). IUCN listed the mountain zebra as an endangered species during the 1990s and early 2000s; however, after subsequent population increases, IUCN reclassified the species as vulnerable in 2008. The plains zebra, although relatively abundant, engages in an outstanding example of an endangered behaviour pattern—large-scale migration. Protecting migration corridors of plains zebras in East Africa is therefore as much a conservation priority as efforts conducted on behalf of Grevy’s zebra.