Yes, believe it or not, there is a day dedicated to the stripey cousins of the horse and I am going to tell you some cool facts about these iconic beasts of Africa. These days are not just for the sake of celebrating the animals themselves but also to help to raise conservation awareness and show people why these animals deserve to be protected.
International Zebra Day takes place annually on January 31. The day was founded by a group of conservation organizations, including the Smithsonian's National Zoo and the Conservation Biology Institute.
Indigenous to Africa, zebras are close cousins to the modern horse and are instantly recognisable on the plains of Africa, their black and white stripes in stark contrast to the golden grasses of the savannah.
According to Discover Wildlife, “Zebras are distinctive single-hoofed mammals that live in herds. There are several species of zebra found in the wild with each zebra’s stripes completely unique from another.
Zebras are odd-toed ungulates and thus belong to the Perissodactyla order. There are three extant families within this order: Equidae (horses, asses, and zebras), Rhinocerotidae (rhinos), and Tapiridae (tapirs).”
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There are three living zebra species, the Grevy's zebra, the plains zebra, and the mountain zebra. The Grevy's zebra is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, as the population has fallen by around 54 percent over the past three decades, according to the African Wildlife Foundation.
They mainly eat grass, but will also feed on bark, fruit and leaves. Zebras spend about half their day grazing with their teeth being well-adapted for munching on tough, coarse grasses that would be difficult for other herbivores to digest.
They also have surprisingly good eyesight compared to other mammals with their eyes set further back on their head to allow a wider field vision. Long, slender legs and hoofed feet help zebras speed away from fast-moving predators, such as cheetahs although full-grown zebras are not typically on the list of cheetah prey. Zebras are large animals capable of delivering powerful kicks and forceful bites, which could easily injure a cheetah.
Why do zebras have stripes? Scientists have pondered the question since Charles Darwin penned his theory of evolution. It’s been called camouflage to confuse big predators, an identity signal to other zebras and a kind of wearable air conditioner. Now most scientists agree that the function of a zebra’s stripes is to ward off biting flies that can carry deadly diseases.
Researchers at the University of Bristol in the UK conducted a study that involved observing and filming horse flies trying to bite zebras. They also dressed some horses in zebra prints to see if it helped them avoid fly bites.
The study was a success. The flies pestered all the horses and the zebras in the paddocks equally. Once the flies flew too close, the stripes seemed to dazzle them so much that they could not manage a controlled landing.
The study found that “flies sped in too fast and either veered off just in time or simply bumped into the zebra and bounced off. The flies didn’t seem to like the zebra coats on horses, either, but their bare heads were fair game.”
There are two species of Zebra in Southern Africa, the Plains or Burchell's Zebra and the Mountain Zebra. As the names suggest, they occur in vastly differing habitats, although they are known to occur together in places where plains and mountains overlap. A third species, the Grevy's Zebra, is found in East Africa.
Cape Nature has done some exceptional work reviving the endangered Cape Mountain zebra from the brink of extinction. The species was reduced to about 400 animals at the turn of the century, falling to about 90 animals in the 1950s. However, conservation efforts by provincial reserves and national parks have paid off.
The Mountain Zebra National Park at Cradock, proclaimed in 1937, was the first reserve to offer the species full protection. Various conservation programs, such as re-introducing them at De Hoop Nature Reserve in the 1960s, was established. The population has grown from under 100 in the 1950s to 1200 animals by 2000.