whats the deal with Zebras??

Question

why are they white with black strips!! a lion can se them a mile away can't they!

Answer 1

No. The difference between black and white breaks up their outline so it is not obvious that they are there. That is always the key to successful camouflage.

Answer 2

Sorry folks the stripes do not hide the animal in the grass. Nor are they temperature control. The lion can spot a zebra herd from well over a mile away. However the stripes do two things...

First they allow the individual zebras to hide within the herd. This makes them hard to pick out and go after.

Second the stripes of the legs are horizontal and effectively create an optical illusion to hide the location of the leg. There is a martial arts technique that uses the same illusion to make it difficult to evade the blow. The martial artist dresses in strips which go down the arm. If the strips are in line with the arm it hides the length of the arm. This makes a stab more effective. If they run around the arm it becomes difficult to judge the speed of a swing.

In the case of lions a study was done where the stripes of some individuals were painted black, another group white and a third group re painted on vertically. A fourth group was the control. All groups had higher death tolls during attacks than the control group.

Lions unable to judge correctly the distance or speed of the leg are apt to miss or worse yet fail to avoid a kick.

So Wombat was correct.

Answer 3

I believe lions can only see in black and white. So when you think about what a herd of zebras would look like all zigzaggity next to each other, it would be hard for the lion to pick on one specifically.

Answer 4

Good question. It's not about hiding, though. It's about confusion and blending in. Although a herd of zebras certainly is not hidden out on the African savannah, the array of vertical white and black stripes makes the animals blend together. It makes it hard for a potential predator to distinguish one animal from another. Also, the stripes have a disorienting effect that can ruin a predator's game.

Answer 5

Zebra stripes are thought to be a form of "disruptive", or "dazzle" camouflage. Zebras typically live and move in herds, and the stripes make it difficult to distinguish the profiles of individual zebras, especially in one's peripheral vision. The point isn't to hide a *single zebra* in the grass, the point is to hide a zebra, in a herd of zebras.

Just look at this photo:
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/images/mammals/zebra_big.jpg

Watching a zebra herd is sure to give you a headache.

~W.O.M.B.A.T.

Answer 6

It would seem so to us. But the stripes actually make their real outline hard to see, so its difficult (especially during high speed chases) exactly where the animal is.
Its like the black stripe on the eyes of a killer whale (hides where their eyes really are), or the black and yellow stripes of a tiger.

Answer 7

zebras live in herds, so when a lion attacks they are confused by the stamped of black and white stripes.plus lion's are color blind.

Answer 8

they group together and don't try to hide...so it isn't for hiding. When they run in different directions, the stripes make it difficult for the predator to follow any individual zebra...it gets confused by the stripes.

Answer 9

actually none of you are totally correct. it does help a lil bit whent hey group together to scare enemies, butt he real reason is in tmeperture control. The black stripes attract heat, so warm air over their bodies rises quicker, leaving only heat absobrbed byt he white stripes, thus, the zebra feels an almost constant breeze to cool off in the weather

Answer 10

Its a fashion statement. Everyone knows that black and white are SO in this season. Who cares if you get caught and eaten, as long as you look awesome?