1. ZEBRA BY MRS. HARDING

2. APPEARANCE The three different types of zebras have different patterns of black and white stripes. Zebras are similar in shape to horses, but have upright manes and shorter tails. Adult zebras are 4-5 feet high at the shoulder. Zebras can weigh 640-990 pounds.

3. HABITAT Grevy’s zebras live in grasslands and thorny scrublands. Mountain zebras live in the high ground and coastal hills. Plains zebras live in grasslands, savannahs and scrublands. All three types live in eastern to southern Africa. It is hard for them to find water in the dry season.

4. ENEMIES/PREDATORS Zebra’s predators are hyenas and lions. For the past 200 years, humans have hunted zebras for their meat and hides. Zebra’s stripes act as protective camouflage, so they are difficult to see from far away. It’s hard to single out an individual zebra with their patterns of stripes.

5. FOOD/PREY Zebras feed on coarse grass early and late in the day. They rest during the midday heat. They chew with large teeth, but don’t digest well, so they spend over half of their time eating. Some zebras are lookouts while others put their heads down to graze.

6. INTERESTING FACTS Zebras recognize other zebras by the pattern of their stripes. Mountain zebras take a dust bath almost every day. During dry season, they use their hooves to dig waterholes in riverbed sand. Zebras hear very well, but the only thing they smell well is smoke. Only half of the zebras born live past the first year.