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They have the shape of horses, but they’re not horses. They have stripes like tigers, but they’re not tigers. They’re zebras! The three different kinds of zebras each has its own pattern of stripes.
The plains zebra has wide stripes that are far apart. The Grevy’s zebra has thin stripes that are close together. And the mountain zebra has wide stripes that are close together. Within each group, each zebra has its own pattern of stripes. Just like you have your own unique fingerprint. All zebras come from Africa. But each type lives in a different part.
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Are zebras white with black stripes or black with white stripes?
Zebras are black with white stripes. Here’s how we know: A zebra’s skin is dark. Its fur grows from tiny pockets under the skin. In the pockets are cells with pigment, or color. In some pockets, the pigment in the cells is not active. The fur growing from these cells is white.
◀ Horseflies carry disease. But zebras don’t usually get infected. Why not? Scientists think their stripes confuse the flies. They may cause them to crash-land or even miss their landing spot altogether. The problem keeps flies from biting zebras. No wonder they bite horses way more often than zebras.
These zebras are grooming. They use their teeth and lips to pull loose hairs off one another’s body. Grooming feels good. And it helps build trust among zebras in the herd. It also helps to keep parasites away. (A parasite feeds on the living thing where it lives.) ▶
▲ A herd of zebras is sometimes called a dazzle. Zebras are safer when they stay in dazzles than when they are alone. All the stripes can confuse a predator. They make it hard for a hungry lion or cheetah to pick out one zebra to chase. For zebras, there’s safety in numbers.
Plains zebras are the smallest of all. They live in family groups called harems in southern and eastern Africa.
