WildView™

November 26, 2024

Looking Back

- as seen by -

Angela Yang

---

Zebra butts! I can never get enough of these stripey backsides.

In Kruger National Park in South Africa, Burchell’s zebras (Equus quagga burchellii), the southern subspecies of plains zebras, remind me of my first trip to Africa – way too long ago to admit. They were the first wildlife I saw, and I probably cried at my “first zebra”. It’s still a thrill every time.

Plains zebras have unique “shadow stripes” in between the bold black and white stripes on their back ends, which is different from the other zebra species. Over the years, zebra stripes were thought to do everything from camouflage to confusing predators, but recent research has shown that the stripes actually do help protect zebras from biting flies.

Canon EOS R10

---