Zebra

 

Linnaean Classification: Eukarya, Animalia, Chordata, Mammalia, Perissodactyla, Equidae, Equus quagga

 

Regulator because zebras are warm-blooded animals and can use energy to regulate internal body conditions.

 

Migration because each year, 300,000 zebras along with other antelopes and 1.5 million wildebeest gather up their young and start their long trek from Tanzania’s Serengeti Plains, further north to Kenya’s Masai Mara National Reserve. Zebras go in search of food and water. Zebras often follow the rain because they rely on the rainfall for food and water. The journey runs in a clockwise circle and the animals cover a distance of around 1,800 miles.

 

Generalist because zebras live anywhere from woodlands to open plains and prey on grass, which can be found in many places.

 

Consumer because zebras obtain their energy from grazing on grass.

 

Herbivore because zebras only graze and eat grass.

 

Niche: Zebras often live in the savanna or dry deserts in many parts of Africa. A zebra’s habitat is a rolling savanna or grassland scattered with shrubs. The zebra is a herbivore that feeds on fruit, grasses, shrubs, and other low plants. Zebras are prey for lions and hyenas, and to a lesser extent for hunting dogs, leopards and cheetahs. When a family group is attacked, the members form a semicircle, face the predator and watch it, ready to bite or strike should the attack continue. If one of the family is injured the rest will often encircle it to protect it from further attack.