Zebra

Zebra

Scientific name
Equus quagga burchellii
Order
mammals
Family
Social Structure
Activity
Food
Dangers
תוכנית שימור בגן
conservation status
LC
Extinct
EX
Extinct in the Wild
EW
Critically endangered
CR
Endangered
EN
Vulnerable
VU
Near Threatened
NT
least Concern
LC
Deficient Data
DD
In the Bible

Weight
KG
385
-
175
Life Expectancy
years
30
Interesting To Know


  • At night, zebras stay in areas with low grass. One zebra remains awake to keep watch for predators, which conceal themselves in the high grass. 
    In the past, the common zebra had a greater range. Today, they can be found chiefly in protected areas, such as parks or nature reserves
    Reproducing males do not allow other males to mate with their females. They protect the family from predators by biting and kicking. It is well-known that zebras can kill hyenas by kicking.
  • A male can discover a female’s ovulation stage by smelling her urine. The zebra’s gestation period lasts for about a year. At the end of this period, a single foal, weighing about 30 kilograms, is born. Birthing periods are spread over the course of the entire year, but most births occur at the beginning of the rainy season, in December and January. Newborns can stand on their own after 15 minutes, and after an hour, they begin to nurse. The mother keeps the other members of the group and her previous offspring at a distance from herself and the foal for a few days. Afterwards, social links begin to form between the foal and the members of the group. The foal is protected by the herd, and is generally located at its center. However, the percentage of younger zebras that are hunted by spotted hyenas and lions is high, even though the mother zebra actively protects her young. The foal nurses until the age of about a year. At three years old, a zebra reaches sexual maturity, but a male zebra may be prevented from approaching a group of females for mating until he is six years old, or even older. 


Who knows why zebras wear pajamas?
Zebras have always been particularly captivating animals thanks to the unique pattern of stripes on their bodies. There are several theories that try to explain this phenomenon, but researchers have yet to fully agree. Here are a few theories:

  • The accepted theory is that zebras have stripes that act as camouflage against predators like lions and wolves. During a pursuit, the stripes make it hard for predators to make out individual zebras within a stampeding herd.
  •  
  • Zebras are very discernable in the open grassy fields of the savannah during the daytime, but they are well camouflaged in the bushes at dawn and dusk, when predators are more active. 

  • Every zebra species has its own pattern of stripes, and this allows members of a species to identify other members. 

  • Every zebra has a unique stripe pattern that allows foals to identify their mothers within large herds. 

  • The tsetse flies, which live in the African savannahs, transfer parasites, and can be dangerous for ungulates (hoofed animals). One existing theory is that this fly can’t tell that zebras are animals, so it doesn’t sting them.
Endangered status
lc
Worldwide
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Israel
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