Cooling stripes

31oktober2007
The zebra can be easily recognized by its black and white stripes. These stripes are a protection mechanism. Lions, the zebra’s main natural enemies, see everything black and white.
The stripes therefore make the zebra difficult to spot. Especially when a herd of zebra starts to run off, a lion can no longer recognize individual zebras.

Apart from protecting, the stripes are also refreshing. As the black stripes absorb the sunlight and the white stripes reflect it, the stripes have a temperature difference of ten degrees Celsius. This temperature difference creates a little bit of wind, which cools down the zebra.