Zebras

- Zebras belong to the horse family called African equids. But unlike horses, they are never domesticated.

- Like the finger prints of humans, the patterns of Zebra stripes are unique. There used to be heated debates about the stripes of Zebra. Does the Zebra have a white skin with black stripes on it? Or was it the white stripes with black skin underneath? After a thorough research, their skin color was found to be black with white stripes on it!

- The stripes of Zebra help them as a camouflage. While grazing, they appear to be a part of the grass. While running, the moving stripes would dazzle the concentration of their predators.

- Zebras have a unique way of running while being chased. They run in a Zigzag manner before the predators. This would certainly confuse the hungry predators.

- Zebras were found to have great senses. They can watch a wider angle with their eyes. Zebras can even watch things in dark. The anatomy of their ears let them hear things better than horses.

- Like horses, Zebras too are herbivores. They love to eat grass and that is the reason why most of the Zebras prefer to live in grasslands.

- Zebras can sleep while standing. They prefer to stand even while they sleep, so as to be ready on their toes to run from the predators. They lie down only when they are surrounded by few more zebras.

- Attempts were made to domesticate Zebra. During the early years of 19th century, people tried to use Zebra for pulling carts. But much of those attempts failed due to unpredictable nature of Zebras.

- Humans used to hunt Zebras for their meat and skin. Though such cases of hunting have declined due to strict laws, the population of Zebras is declining due to deforestation.