Black with white stripes or white with black stripes?

Fascinating as the most difficult mathematical equation, the puzzle was once solved. As a result, zebras have fewer and fewer secrets from us. Despite their bicolour, these extremely fascinating animals are... extremely colourful.

At first glance, all zebras look the same. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Each zebra has its own special and unique stripe pattern from which it can be identified. That's not all. Each zebra is black with white stripes. These stripes shimmer in the sunlight as the zebras move around. This is to confuse predators. Zebras live in the grasslands of eastern and southern Africa, so they have to watch out for carnivores.

It was he who solved the biggest puzzle of the gathering - Jonathan B.L. Bard

A study conducted by - interestingly this time not an American, but a British scientist - embryologist J.B.L. Bard in 1977 confirms that zebras are black with white stripes. In a paper entitled 'A unity underlying the different zebra striping patterns', Bard, now Emeritus Professor of Bioinformatics and Developmental Biology at the University of Edinburgh, analysed the mechanisms of stripe formation in different zebra species, pointing to the existence of a common mechanism generating these patterns.

Inhabiting Africa, zebras are herbivorous. They feed mainly on grass, but will also eat bark, fruit or leaves with taste. These animals belong to the equine family. It is worth mentioning that their white stripes also have a protective function against insect bites. We are talking about insects from the family of bitterbugs. It turns out that insects have a hard time landing on a zebra's body. Why, this may surprise you. These same insects have no problem sitting on the body of uniformly coloured horses.

How do zebras recognise each other?

By the stripes, of course! As you already know, they are one of a kind. Usually these animals live in herds. A herd consists of a dominant male and females with their young. It may come as a surprise to learn that the ears of the zebra are not just an auditory tool. They also act as a mood barometer. This is made possible by the fact that their ears rotate in almost every direction. They express their moods in this way.

Why are these animals special? 

They arouse the sympathy of many and we watch them with interest in the zoo. It is therefore worth learning a few facts about them. These animals sleep standing up. Very rarely do they lie down to rest. Sometimes you can see two zebras standing huddled sideways to each other, with their heads turned to both sides. They do this to better observe their surroundings. Many people think that zebras are difficult to capture in a photograph. However, when they do succeed, they delight in capturing themselves. The moment they meet a predator in their path, they run away zigzagging. They are truly amazing animals.

What might surprise you?

There is an animal that is a cross between a zebra and another animal of the equine family. This animal could be a horse or a donkey. From this crossbreeding, the zebraroid was created. One of the first people to notice the existence of zebroids was Charles Darwin.