
Make a point of ensuring that the stables are always clean. This being an exotic animal, it would be wise to seek the permission of the local wildlife service body. However, make sure that there are large fields where the zebra can graze freely. A horse stable will be more than sufficient when keeping a zebra. Keeping a zebra is more like keeping a horse. Housing a zebraĪs aforementioned, zebras prefer open spaces. This enables the zebras to escape from their predators. Zebras can run at speeds of as high as 40 km/h and they do so in a zigzag movement. Young male zebras have been known to form very strong bonds with their fathers. The mothers are very protective of their young and will continue to feed the young with milk for about a year.

Young ones bond very well with their mothers. While with most animal species the mother is the key parental figure for zebras both parents are considerably important. In the event that a zebra is injured by a predator, other zebras might surround the injured one to defend it and try to fend off the predator if possible. On top of that the zebras in groups are able to defend each other. This enables the zebras to be warned of any impending danger. Zebras are extremely social animals, they even fall asleep while being close to their neighbors. They lack good camouflage in these areas and therefore they rely heavily on being in groups. The tropical temperatures are considerably high in most of these regions and the rainfall is abundant. Grevy’s zebra is limited to arid grasslands and it is the largest of the species of zebras. The Common Zebra is found throughout East Africa while the Mountain Zebra is often spotted in mountain grasslands in South West Africa. They are very common in East and Southern African regions. Zebras inhabit plains and open grasslands.

The Common Zebra on the other hand is covered with broad stripes all over its body. The underside of these two species is usually white. The Mountain and Grevy’s Zebras have stripes narrows than those found in other species. The stripes also vary from one species to another. They therefore use these stripes to identify each other in a group. No two zebras have the same stripe pattern. They are kind of like fingerprints on a human being. What many people do not know is that the stripes of the zebra are unique to each individual. This foal had caught everyone's interest.Perhaps the most interesting fact about zebras is their stripes. The images, according to sources drew a lot of attention and sparked Mr Tira took pictures of the unusually marked zebra foal and shared them on the Matira Bush Camp's Facebook page. “I'm not sure where the term pseudo-melanism came from, but I think it's fair to say it's a popular and undefined term that refers to extremely rare animals that have anĪpparent abnormality in the stripe pattern process, for example, light stripes are absent from much of the trunk and back but are more common on the extremities,” said geneticist Greg Barsh, a faculty investigator at The polka dot appearance is caused by a hereditary condition known as pseudo-melanism, in which animals' stripe patterns are distorted.Īlso Read: The Cognitive Benefits of Playing Poker Tira's unusual colour, on the other hand, represents Masai Mara's first documented sighting.

Like human fingerprints, zebra stripes are one-of-a-kind. Photographer Frank Liu recalled, “at first glance, it appeared to be a whole other species."Īntony Tira, a Maasai guide and photographer at the Reserve's Matira Bush Camp who named the zebra told a Kenyan media outlet, "At first, I assumed it was a zebra that had beenĬaptured and painted or marked for the purposes of (researching) migration." “When I first saw it, I was puzzled. In the park, there is a general rule that whoever discovers a significant animal gets to name it.” In 2019, the eye-catching zebra was likely about a week old when he was spotted by a group of photographers on the lookout for rhinos.

Zebra foal with a dark coat and white polka dots in Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya is named Tira after the photographer Antony Tira who spotter it back in 2019. However, a baby zebra with a rare polka dots pattern instead of stipes has got people talking. For most people, the word Zebra brings up images of a black and white striped animal.
