Anyone know about zebras?

Question

My daughter is doing a project and needs to know how big they grow in zoos and is it different in their natural enviroment

Answer 1

There are 3 main types of zebras. The Plains (or the Burchell’s), the Mountain, and Grevy’s. There are also some subspecies.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

*Grevy's zebras - are 4.5 to 5 feet tall at the shoulder, are eight to ten feet long and weigh between 775 to 1,000 pounds, and can live up to 22 years in wild.

- grevys zebra - can live up to 30 years in captivaty (I couldnt find anything about its size in captivity. Sorry!)

*plains zebra - 600 lb (265 kg) to 800 lb, average from 48" tall to 56" tall, and may live 25 years in the wild

- plains zebra - may live 30 years in captivity (lol sry i couldnt find anything about there size in captivaty for this one either!)

*mountain zebra - 4 to 5 feet tall at shoulder, 6 to 8.5 feet in length, 572-814 lb, 20-28 years in wild

- mountain zebra - 25-30 years in captivity

I know i didnt find anything about there size in captivity, but since they arnt out in the wild then nothing can really kill them(except for disease) in captivity. That means the live longer, so they grow even bigger.

Answer 2

There are 3 species of zebra.

1. Grevy's zebra which comes from the semi-desert areas of Ethiopia and Kenya. It is the largest species, 145-160 cm at the shoulder and has very narrow stripes. You can see these at Whipsnade zoo if you happen to live nearby. This is an endangered species.

2. Plains or Burchell's zebra. This is the most common species widespread throughout sub-Saharan Africa and the one you see being hunted by lions on wildlife programmes. Across its range there are some differences between different groups living in different parts of Africa and these are called subspecies. The height of Burchell's zebra is about 130 cm.


3. Mountain zebra. These come from the deserts and semideserts of southwestern Africa and are endangered. There are two subspecies called Hartmann's mountain zebra and the Cape mountain zebra. They are the smallest with height 125-130 cm.

Even though there are three living species of zebra, you should also know about the quagga which was another southern African zebra species which only had stripes on its head and half way down its body. It was hunted to extinction in the wild and the last animals died in captivity in the 1880s without anyone realising that there were none remaining in the wild.

What is the difference between keeping zebras in the wild and captivity?

Size: in the wild zebras tend to be all roughly the same height and their body size is strictly genetically controlled so that they don't grow so big that they can't find enough food to maintain themselves. Keeping them in captivity doesn't change them very much at all. To make them bigger you would need to practise a selective breeding programme using only the tallest ones to produce the next generation. Modern zoos at least don't do that. Their breeding programmes are aimed at keeping genetic diversity and so as many animals as possible are used for breeding to keep the animals as they are in the wild. Even if they are not taller they are probably all fatter than wild ones as they are always well fed.

The real difference for captive animals is that they live longer.

Foals that are born small and weak are given good care and often grow into adults, in the wild they would be picked off by predators.

Good feeding and healthcare means that they never go hungry, don't get parasites and illness is treated. Particularly important in grazing animals is that teeth are cared for. These tend to wear down in the wild and older animals may starve to death or get eaten by a predator.

Zebras are quite long lived in the wild, may be upto 20 years, in captivity another 5-10 years on top of that is common, but there have been captive Burchell's zebras that have lived until their mid-30s.

You were particularly interested in size. Height to the shoulder for plains and mountain zebras 125-130 cm makes them about the same size as a small pony, it is equivalent to 12.2-13 hands high. Grevy's are the size of large pony-horse size 14.2 to 16 hands high and show the most variation of the three zebras.

Answer 3

Hello,

Zebras have evolved from the horse, but they have changed their living destination and as of that - camouflage. They have black and white stripes, so when they are in groups they create a illusion in front of the lions eyes as it sees in black and white.

They use it to escape predators.

Also, each zebra has different patterns like its DNA.

They live in Savanas and prefer eating grass and small rootless plants. You might see some birds on the zebras - they eat off the bugs that lie on the zebras body.

Good Luck!

Answer 4

ZEBRAS:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebra

Answer 5

They are black and white striped and look just like a horse.
Their bodies are a bit smaller than a horse when full grown.

Answer 6

Zebras are so similar to horses that the two can interbreed.

Answer 7

Zebras, are for to cover zeboobies. No seriously couldnt resist, sorry. They are a black and white animal, so there.

Answer 8

They've got stripes and often lay down in the road.

Answer 9

ZEBRAS:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/zebra...
www.answers.com
www.ask.com

Answer 10

there black and white and they eat like a horse l.o.l sorry but thats all i know about them, best of luck with the project