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🦁 Animal world 🐘 Mammals

The zebra

The zebra

πŸ“– In short

The zebra is a beautiful African animal like a horse, but covered in black and white stripes from its head to its hooves. It lives in big herds on Africa's grassy plains and eats grass.

🀩 Did you know?

  • A zebra stands between 1.2 and 1.5 meters tall at the shoulder.
  • A zebra can run at 65 kilometers an hour.
  • Under its hair, a zebra's skin is black.
  • A baby zebra stands and runs less than an hour after it's born.

πŸ”Ž Find out more

🌟 No two are alike

Every zebra has its own stripes, different from every other zebra's, just like your fingerprint. A mother knows her foal by its stripes and its voice.

πŸ” Why the stripes?

Scientists think the stripes confuse lions when the herd runs together, so they can't tell where one zebra starts and another ends. The stripes also keep away biting flies.

πŸ’‘ The herd protects its members

Zebras live together and keep watch for each other. If one sees a lion it calls out to warn the rest, and they all run off together fast.

🎯 A great journey

In some African countries, zebras migrate long distances every year with other animals, looking for green grass and water.

πŸ“Έ More pictures

The zebra
The zebra
The zebra

🧩 Test yourself

1 Where does the zebra live?

2 Do all zebras have the same stripes?

3 A zebra can run at ?? kilometers an hour.

4 Which picture shows β€œThe zebra”?

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πŸ“· Picture sources: Wikimedia Commons