Zebras are animals of the equine order, which are represented by a small group. Horses and wild donkeys are the closest relatives of zebras, and tapirs and rhinos are their more distant ancestors.
The animal has a restless and evil temper, it is very difficult to tame. Up to three years, the female takes care of her cub.
Breeding
Zebras can give offspring all year round, but the rainy season is the most favorable period. The stallions that drive the herds during the rutting season guard their herds from single males. Often mating takes place, mainly they are of a ritual nature, during which the males, standing on their hind legs, beat each other with their hooves.
The male’s harem consists of 5–6 mares, whose pregnancy lasts 13 months. By the age of one and a half years, the zebra can live independently and is finally ready for sexual intercourse.
By the appearance of the baby, her body matures only three years after birth. Zebra cubs appear every three years. Reproductive abilities of a zebra persist until the age of eighteen.
Baby birth
A zebra gives birth to only one, but very large and developed baby. Many, especially children, often ask: what is the name of a zebra cub? Zebra or zebric? In fact, it is called a foal, and several cubs are foals.
A born baby weighs 30 kg, and after about 10 minutes, the newborn stands on its own. After 20, he can start walking, and after 40 minutes he is already jumping around his mother.
Zebra cubs feed on milk for more than a year, although seven days after birth they can pinch grass on their own. Unusual pink zebra milk. The special nutrients contained in it contribute to the good functioning of the intestines of the foals and protect them from a large number of diseases.
After birth, the mother blocks her baby from other zebras, so that he remembers the unusual pattern of the mother and could not confuse her with other animals.
In the event of a threat, she hides it in the herd, where the remaining zebras help her protect the baby. Despite this, half of the newborn foals die from predators: lions, hyenas and crocodiles.
Newborn zebra cubs are brown or black. Specific bands appear four months after birth.
Years later, a mare or a stallion becomes an adult and leaves the mother.
Habitat and lifestyle
Zebra can only be found in Africa. There are only 3 types of them: savannah, plain and mountain, the names correspond to their permanent place of residence. Quagga is the fourth species that was destroyed by man before the beginning of the twentieth century.
Life expectancy of a zebra in the wild is up to 30 years. In zoological gardens, animals can live up to the age of forty. They perfectly adapt to life in the zoo and give offspring. So, in one of the zoos in England, a zebra named Nadine for the first time in front of visitors gave birth to a baby. Everything happened calmly and quickly. But so far the name of the baby zebra Nadine is not yet known.
Zebras live uniting in herds. They are formed when a young stallion searches for a female, then several more mares adjoin them, and together they remain until the end of life.
Individuals of the family herd recognize their relatives even at a great distance by smell, voice and striped patterns. Zebra cubs are always under the tutelage of the whole herd. Between themselves, animals communicate with barking sounds and neighing.
