Image #5 Zebras: Serengeti Plains Tanzania Africa

I can still recall standing and looking out into the Serengeti plains with such awe and wonder as these magnificent animals roamed at a distance in their natural habitat. I just stood there for some time listening to the sound of the wind meditating and quietly hoping the emotion and witnessing would forever be seared in my mind. This is the amazing humility that nature can bestow upon us.

Plain zebras, also known as common zebras, live in groups referred to as “harems”, consisting of several mares and their recent offspring led by a single stallion. The harem stallion protects and defends the group’s territory and attempts to prevent other stallions from mating with his mares. When a herd of zebras runs in various directions, individual bodies blur, making it harder for the predator to attack. Because of their excellent eyesight, zebras often alert other animals that danger is near. Zebras can smell lions that are more than five football fields away.

Resources: “Safari: A Photicular Book” created by Dan Kainen and written by Carol Kaufmann. DK Smithsonian: ANIMAL, Editors in chief, David Burnie and Don E. Wilson.