Zebra, female

These sleek, striped equids live in the savannah grasslands of eastern and southern Africa where they spend most of the day grazing on grass, leaves, bark, roots, and stems. Each zebra's pattern of stripes is unique. The plains, or common, zebra sport wide stripes on their bodies -- that continue to the undersides -- along with thinner 'shadow' stripes on their hind quarters. Their excellent hearing and vision help them escape predators. They usually live in family groups of one stallion and several mares but often come together in large herds of several hundred zebras. And, once a year, hundreds of thousands of zebras gather to migrate in search of food and water. These herds sometimes mingle with wildebeests, ostrich, and antelope. Zebras tend to be pretty skittish -- who can blame them with all the lions and hyenas around -- and really noisy. Their whinnies, yelps, and barks are their way of communicating with each other. They never wander too far from a source of water and can live about thirty years in the wild.

• For ages 3 and up