Ms. Barrett said...
Questions from Cailin B. (HMS 6th pd.)

1) Have you witnessed any zebra predator/prey interactions? How do zebras fend off attacks from predators (besides running)? Why do they run in zigzags when trying to escape predators?

2) Are there other ways to tell the difference between zebras besides looking at their hindquarters?

3) Are you seeing any foals in the herds you survey? How long does a foal stay with its mother? I wonder why the foals have brown stripes at birth.
Yes, we saw many foals with their mothers. They typically stay with their mothers in the harems for 2-3 years. The brown striping is usually an indicator to the other zebras that it is a baby-it is a type of silent communication. They loose that brown coloring slowly and you can tell their age up to 2 years old as the brown fades away and they get clearer black and white stripes.

--Tammy Schmidt, Team Member-St. Louis Zoo