Juvenile Zebra Skull

Zebras are best known for the striking black and white striped pattern.  They live in a variety of habitats in Africa, like savannahs, woodlands, mountains and coastal hills.  Scientists are unsure exactly what purpose the stripes of a zebra serve, but some believe that the zebra's stripes allow it to blend in with the grass from the point of view of its color blind cardinal predator: the lion.  Others say that the stripes serve as visual identification cues; because each zebra has a distinctive pattern, zebras may be able to recognize one another by their stripes.  Yet another theory says that the complicated pattern serves to confuse the visual system of the blood sucking tsetse fly.  Of the four species of zebra, Equus burchelli is the most common.  This species is nomadic and will travel many miles a day in search of water and land to graze.