Zebras Research Paper

Words: 746
Pages: 3

Zebras Are More than Just a Print Zebras are unlike any other animal and are easily recognized by their distinct coat. Each print of the zebra is unlike like any other, many would call the print the zebras finger print. Zebras are mammals and also herbivores. Their diets consist of grasses, herbs, shrubs, twigs, leaves and sometimes certain tree bark. The average life expectancy of a zebra in the wild is only about 25 years. The average zebra weighs 440 to 990 lbs. and has a height of five ft. There are three types of zebras: Plains zebras are found on the savannas from Sudan to northern Zimbabwe in eastern Africa, Grevy's zebras are now mostly restricted to parts of northern Kenya, Mountain zebras occur in southwestern Africa with cape mountain zebras in South Africa and Hartmann's mountain zebras in Namibia and Angola. Historically, there were over 750,000 zebras in the wild. The Grevy’s being the species that most populated the zebra community had 15,000 of its kind, however, there are only about 2,500 remaining today. There are 600-700 cape mountain zebras and around 800 - 1000 Hartmann's mountain zebras in the wild. (Defenders of Wildlife, “Basic Facts about Zebras”) …show more content…
Nobody really knows why zebras have stripes, but some believe the stripes may serve as camouflage or as a way identification among the species. Most of their predators don’t have color vision so they find zebras difficult to isolate when they are together. This theory has been supported by the fact that you rarely see a zebra alone. The problem with these theories is that their behavior does not fit what would be expected from a camouflaged animal. Firstly they prefer an open habitat with short grass making them conspicuous. In addition to this these African animals are quite noisy and active and they do not freeze in response to danger. (Africa Wildlife Detective,