Why Is Zebra Striped?

Why Is Zebra Striped? Zoologists believe the stripes on a zebra could be one of several reasons. It could be basically for camouflage very much like the military fatigues.

The bold wavy lines of a zebra blend in with the tall wavy grassy plains of Africa where these animals live. The bold stripe may even serve to break up the shape of the Zebra. If a zebra is standing still in such surroundings, a lion, its chief predator, may overlook it completely.

There are three species classified according to the variations in the stripes – the Imperial or Grevy’s zebra. The Plains or Common zebra. The Mountain zebra – and several subspecies.

Mountain zebra is the smallest of these averaging only four feet. It has silver-white stripes with black markings that extend to every part of the body except the stomach and the inner part of thighs.

Plains zebras travel in large herds and are pale yellow with broad black stripes. This specie has several variations: some have stripes down to the hooves while the lower legs of the others are solid white without any stripes.

Do you know that people of Africa think of zebras as black animals with white stripes because people outside Africa consider them as white animals with black stripes!

Black stripes or white, the fact remains that zebras are extremely unusual and are among the fastest and most graceful of runners in the African bush land. We have the answer for the question why is zebra striped.

Where do zebras live? Though they all live in Africa, each species of zebra has its own home area. Plains zebras live in the treeless grasslands and woodlands of eastern and southern Africa. The Grevy’s zebra lives in the arid grasslands of Ethiopia and northern Kenya. The mountain zebra is found in South Africa, Namibia and Angola.

Content for this question contributed by Karen Watkins, resident of Ben Lomond, Santa Cruz County, California, USA