We live in a world full of diversity and at times, it really is what makes life interesting. There are also times when diversity doesn’t work out well, and that is sometimes seen in the animal kingdom.
When an animal is born that does not look like a member of its species, they are sometimes rejected and even killed by the mother. It is something that happens in many different species, but it doesn’t seem to be the case with zebras.
As far as zebras are concerned, the thing that most people will think about immediately is stripes. In fact, the stripes of a zebra are unique to the point where they even are able to use it as a type of fingerprint.
It seems as if one little zebra in Kenya is a horse of a different color. According to Daily Nation, the zebra foal was photographed at Maasai Mara Game Reserve and it surprises most people that see it. It is known as a ‘blacker zebra’ because it does not have stripes.
This isn’t something that happens very often and in fact, it’s the first time that it was seen at the reserve. When the photographer, Antony Tira was taking pictures, he even thought that it had been painted or perhaps it migrated from elsewhere, but then he realized it was a newborn from within the herd.
The stripes of the zebra are more than something interesting to look at. In fact, they regulate the temperature of the zebra and that is important, because of the fact that they digest food slowly.
“Zebra have a need to keep foraging throughout the day, which keeps them out in the open more of the time than other animals,” researcher Ren Larison told Live Science. “An additional cooling mechnanism could be very useful under these circumstances.”
There are other possible reasons why zebras have stripes, including the possibility that it provides camouflage or keeps flies away.
Something to keep in mind is the fact that most blacker zebras do not live more than six months in the wild. This particular zebra is only about a week old as of the time of the photograph, so they are watching him carefully to see what happens.
You can see more in this video:
Source: YouTube, Daily Nation