Zebras are everywhere in Kruger Park.  They like to graze on the edges of the road which makes them easy to see.  They also cross the road and you just wait for them to go across this way..............

................or that way............

.........or sometimes neither way, but just stopping and looking at you.

............or sometimes running away in a panic.

 

These are Burchell's Zebras which are the most common zebra found in southern Africa.  They are distinguished from the mountain zebra by the 'shadow' stripes found between the black stripes, especially on the rump.  Also the stripes go all the way under their tummy but not all the way down the legs.  It's really true that no two zebras have exactly the same striping.  They live in small groups of females and young with a stallion and there is the usual fighting with younger males trying to be leader or to steal females.  Their sound is a cross between a donkey's hee haw and a dog's bark.

 

Zebra mares always seem to be pregnant.  They breed very soon after the birth of a foal and have a ten month gestation period so they really are pregnant most of the time.  But because the digestion system of zebras produces a lot of gas,  they all look a little fat all the time.  And when they are startled and take off running fast, you can hear the jet assistance.  Zebras need a lot of water and will walk for miles to get to it.

 

On the left is a young zebra that still has some long hairs on his head and the brownish cast to the coat.  See how different the patterns are on the two.  The mature zebra on the right is now all black and white.  Which is the base coat color and which color are the stripes?