City of Topeka | Topeka Zoological Park: African Savannah

The Topeka Zoo is home to a Grant’s zebra exhibit. There are three species of zebra; Grevy’s, Mountain and Grant’s. Grevy’s zebra are the tallest, their stripes are closer together and the ears are large. Mountain zebras are smaller than Grant’s zebras. Grant’s zebras are common in zoos and are also called plains or common zebra. They form two kinds of groups-family groups and all male bachelor groups. There sometimes may be rare solitary stallions. The family is a strong, small group of an adult stallion, mares and several offspring.

There is a dominate mare who determines the direction of the group. Other members of the group follow according to rank with the lowest-ranking mare coming in last. The stallion usually walks at the end or side of the herd. He is the dominate member of the entire family and will drive the lead mare to change directions if he chooses. Bachelor groups are not as stable as family groups but members form bonds with each other. There is a leader of the group who is also an adult. The bachelor groups do not fight for rank as other species of bachelor groups will. The stripe pattern of a zebra is different for each animal.

There may be many purposes for the stripes, but none have been proven. One theory is that the stripes help confuse a predator by making it hard to make out an individual. Another is that zebras recognize each other by their stripe pattern. Zebras have several different vocalizations which can have different meanings. They have a contact call that sounds like a combination of a donkey braying and a dog barking.