Did you know that each individual zebra's stripes are unique and are therefore a way of identifying each other in the herd (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/20/science/zebra-stripes-flies.html?). The lines also help dazzle and confuse insects - who might want to bite them - along with predators (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/20/science/zebra-stripes-flies.html).
Sketched by me and coloured in by my children to mark International Zebra Day today, introducing Rainbow and Lilly.
It's thought that only 2,000 Grevy's Zebras are left in Kenya and Ethiopia - the only places they exist nowadays as they went extinct from Somalia and Sudan - as a result of poaching. Competition for land and water with livestock, as well as the loss of habitat, are also impacting Grevy's zebra numbers so it would be good to give our stripey friends a little recognition today (https://matadornetwork.com/view/africa-grevys-zebra-extinction/).
Not everything in life is always so black and white, in the grey areas you often find rainbows and lilies too.
