Friday, May 27, 2011

Photo of the Week: Grevy Zebra (Samburu, Kenya)

At first sight, the Grevy Zebra doesn't look quite like a zebra. Its large ears look out of place and its belly looks like it has been white-washed - the narrow pyjama stripes not stretching all the way around. The Grevy Zebra is the slightly larger cousin (and largest of all species in the horse family!) of the more familiar Plains Zebra and is seriously endangered. Favouring drier climates, these Grevies were photographed in Kenya's semi-arid Samburu National Park, lying almost in the centre of the country just above the equator-hugging Mt Kenya.

4 comments:

Barbara Weibel said...

The stripes are so narrow that the zebra in the bottom photo almost looks psychedelic!

Mark H said...

@barbara: Reading a bit about them, it sounds like the Grevy's Zebra has narrower stripes than the normal Plains Zebra. The stripes are supposedly for camouflage, but they do have more of a psychodelic look to me too. I guess a lot of animals are colour-bkind so it probably works better on them!! They have always been one of my favourites with their dazzling coats.

Sherry Ott said...

I didn't even know there were grey zebras! AND I went on safari in Samburu park. I probably have tons of pictures of them and didn't even realize it!

Mark H said...

@sherry: Grevy (not Grey) - you'll almost certainly have some photos of these guys if you've been to Samburu.

 
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