Zebra

Excerpt(s) from the book Namibian Wildlife - an alternative guide for the traveller on safari.

Namibia has two sorts of zebra. The plains zebra Equus burchelli (also called burchell's zebra), and the mountain zebra  Equus zebra hartmannae (also called the hartmann zebra). The plains zebra occurs in the plains along the top of the country, and the mountain zebra in the hilly bits from the north down to the south going along the western side of Namibia. However game farming means you could meet either species anywhere."

"researchers have noted that on cold mornings mountain zebra stand side on to the sun, but on warmer mornings they stand head on to the sun. Apart from the difference in body area for the sunlight to warm up, there is also a large difference in the ratio of light to dark skin on the front versus the side. Side on, the dark patches are 3 times more common than the white patches. When viewed head on, the ratio is the reverse i.e. not only do they have more space to catch the sun when side on, but they have proportionally more black which is better at absorbing heat."

© 2004 Sean Nicholson