Tikiri Animal Knowledge Series

This blogs animal in the limelight is the stripy zebra! 

Lets face it - zebras look just like stripy horses which is exactly what they are! They are part of the Equidae family which is the horse family including horses, donkeys and zebras. 

Did you know they make rugs (jackets) for horses that are zebra patterned - so if you spot what looks like a zebra in a field it may in fact be a horse in disguise! 

What else can we learn about these monotone beauties? 

Zebra Fun Facts

1. Zebras are vegan! They are known as herbivores and only eat plants and tend to spend most of their day grazing. 

2. A zebras stripes are like a humans fingerprint - it is unique to them and no two zebras have the same stripes. 

Photo credit: Kalahari 

3. Whilst you wouldn't consider black and white stripes as good camouflage it works well for a zebra. Their main predators are lions which are colour blind so if the zebras bunch together it confuses a lion as they could think their stripes are grass. 

Photo credit: AjayLalu

4. Zebras have amazing eyesight and are some of the few mammals that can actually see colour. The only colour they can't see is orange. 

5. Zebras like to stick together and are very sociable. A group of zebras is usually known as a herd but they also sometimes called a dazzle - they are quite dazzling after all!

6. When a mummy zebra gives birth she keeps the baby zebra (foal) away from other zebras for a few days until they can recognise her scent, voice and appearance. A baby zebra can stand up as quickly as 6 minutes after being born and can run within 40 minutes. That's so they can escape from predators quickly if they need to.  

Photo credit: RoDobby

7. When zebras get faced with a predator they form a semi-circle and will bite and kick to protect themselves or other family members. They have an incredibly strong kick which can kill a lion. 

8. Zebras have amazing hearing and their ears allow them to hear in almost any direction. They are also able to communicate their mood to other zebras with their ears.  

Photo credit: Mary40

9. Zebras have hooves as feet which is essentially 1 toe which has evolved over thousands of years! With those 4 toes they are able to run at 40 mph. Not only are they fast runners they are great climbers too! Mountain zebras use their pointed hooves to climb mountains to find food. 

10. Imagine being able to sleep standing up...well zebras do. Their ability to sleep standing up means if they get ambushed by a predator they can run away very quickly to escape. 

We hope you enjoyed our 10 zebra facts – keep an eye out for our next animal in the limelight in the next few weeks.

If your child would like their own miniature zebra of their own you can buy our Zebra bath toy here.