African Safari Photo Journal #3: Zebras

This is the third post in an ongoing series showcasing STP customer Ray Boyd’s September 2007 African safari in Tanzania.

As they were cruising through the scrub brush, Ray’s safari group caught sight of a zebra herd. Zebras are related to the horse, but are smaller than their cousins, and quite a bit wilder. Like the giraffes in the last post, zebras have unique markings (in their case stripes) that identify one animal from another.

Besides the fact that the stripes are identifying (and strikingly beautiful), they’re also confusing to predators. When a lioness, for example, gives chase to a herd of zebra, she may have a hard time determining where one zebra starts and another ends. This causes the lioness to become disoriented and lose confidence in the hunt.

This photo of a mother zebra and her foal is one of Ray’s favorites from the trip. When zebras are born, their stripes are brown. They don’t turn black until they’re about one-year old. This little guy is likely getting up there, but still getting free meals courtesy of mom.

Check back next week for more photos from Ray’s African Safari.