What a way to earn your stripes: Zebras captured in bloody battle for dominance

By Daily Mail Reporter


Cross: These aggressive zebras were left covered in blood after a vicious battle for supremacy in their herd


These aggressive zebras were left covered in blood after a vicious battle for supremacy in their herd.

The two males, thought to be aged around ten and four years old, were pictured gripped in a noisy and ferocious battle that lasted several hours.

Photographer Winfried Wisniewski was in the Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania, to see the calving of 250,000 wildebeest.

Tussle: The two males, thought to be aged around ten and four years old, were pictured in the Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania, having a noisy battle that lasted several hours


But the 62-year-old was stunned to see the common zebras kicking and biting each other so violently.

He said: 'I watched for about an hour as the two stallions engaged in a serious and noisy fight.

'They were fighting for dominance in a zebra family group of abut ten members.

'It was obvious they had been fighting for a long time before we even arrived because both were seriously hurt.

'I would say they had probably been fighting for a few hours.

'The younger one seemed to be the dominant one but he tired and the older one eventually won.

'The younger zebra gave up and disappeared.'


Hoof it: Zebras can weigh up to 900 lbs and measure 5ft at the shoulder

Bloody: The pair kicked and bit each other in a vicious battle for dominance over a family group

Mr Wisniewski, from the Ruhr region of Germany, added: 'It was a a very hard and rare fight, and I thing my images are sensational.

'The older one is probably more than ten years old and the younger about four to six years, maybe younger.

'You can see it by comparing the length of the teeth.' Zebras can weigh up to 900 lbs and measure 5ft at the shoulder.

Each individual has its own distinctive pattern of stripes that break up the outline of the body, providing effective camouflage from predators like lions or hyena.


Ferocious: The tussle was captured on camera by German photographer Winfried Wisniewski


Stamina: The elder stallion was eventually prevailed and the younger slunk off


The zebra's thin, long legs are also perfectly built for a swift escape from danger and they can run at up to 40 miles per hour.

Herds can be comprised of up to 1000 individuals, these are made up of family groups of between five and 20.

Zebras communicate through sounds and facial expressions. Laying the ears flat is a sign of aggression.



source:dailymail

Someone been playing Jumanji? Zebras escape zoo and roam the suburbs after worker forgets to lock cage

By Daily Mail Reporter


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Running free: An escaped zebra was spotted running through a residential area after making a bid for freedom from the Leesburg Animal Park


It could have been a scene straight from the movie Jumanji,
Zebras who had escaped from a petting zoo were found wandering in a small town after an employee reportedly left their cage open.

The two animals managed to get out of their pen at Leesburg Zoo in Virginia. They were later captured by the sheriff's office and hit with tranquiliser darts before being returned to their enclosure.

Police received several calls yesterday afternoon from alarmed residents reporting zebras on the loose in traffic. No one was injured by the escaped animals.


Call of the wild: A zebra gallops through a suburban estate in the small town of Leesburg, Virginia after escaping from a petting zoo

Free to roam: One of the two zebras which escaped from the Leesburg Animal Park, Virginia after an employee left their cage open


The owner of the Leesburg Animal Park said the zebras got loose after two workers, who are not directly employed by the park, left a gate open.

This is the second time animals have escaped from the zoo in Leesburg. Last year, a type of Africa cat, a serval, got out and was hit by a car but survived.

The zebras had a fortunate escape. Last month nearly 50 wild animals - including 18 rare Bengal tigers and 17 lions - were shot by sheriff's deputies after the owner of an exotic-animal park in Ohio threw their cages open and committed suicide in what may have been one last act of spite against his neighbors and police.

Feeding time at the zoo: The zebras are one of the attractions at the Leesburg Animal Park in Virginia


Officers armed with high-powered rifles and shoot-to-kill orders fanned out through fields and woods to hunt down 56 animals that had been turned loose from the Muskingum County Animal Farm by owner Terry Thompson before he shot himself.

After an all-night hunt, 48 animals were killed. Six others - three leopards, a grizzly bear and two monkeys - were captured and taken to the Columbus Zoo. A wolf was later found dead.

Another monkey that was carrying the dangerous Herpes B virus, is believed to be dead after being eaten by one of the other animals.


Blood-shed: Sheriff's deputies shot 48 wild animals - including 18 rare Bengal tigers and 17 lions - across the state's countryside




source:dailymail

You've made an ass of me! Pranksters break into animal rescue centre and spray-paint donkey as a ZEBRA

RSPCA: ‘We take reports of animals being painted very seriously’
30-year-old Ant was covered in black and white stripes

By Stephen Hull


You’ve heard of mutton dressed as lamb – but donkey disguised as zebra?

A rescue donkey has been plunged into an identity crisis after an extreme makeover by pranksters.

Thirty-year-old Ant was covered in black and white stripes to transform him into a new type of beast.

White stripes: Ant the donkey has been transformed into a zebra after pranksters spent 20 minutes painting him


‘I noticed something was wrong when a zebra came in for a feed instead of a donkey,’ said Felix Green of the Sussex Horse Rescue Trust, in Uckfield, Sussex.

‘We did not see who did it so it must have happened sometime overnight. It must have taken the person who did it at least 20 minutes to paint it. He is not in pain but it really smells.’

Mr Green said another donkey, Pedro, had an ‘obscene image’ painted on his side.
He said: ‘We think they were targeted randomly as there are a lot of donkeys there.’

Extreme makeover: While some may find Ant's new makeover amusing, the RSPCA has said it is a form of abuse which is not funny


Taped up: Palestinian zoo workers tape a donkey in order to paint it to look like a zebra because they cannot afford to buy a real one because of import restrictions


Painting donkeys to look like zebras has happened before.

In 2009, a zoo in Gaza found a clever way to beat Israeli restrictions on animal imports by dyeing two donkeys so they looked like zebras.

But today an RSPCA spokeswoman said animal graffiti is not amusing.

‘It's shocking people would think it was funny to spray-paint a donkey in this way. We take reports of animals being painted very seriously.

‘The paint can irritate their skin and affect their breathing.’

Sussex Police said they are investigating the incident.


source:dailymail

What's black and white and kicks like a mule? Meet the baby donkra - a donkey crossed with a zebra

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

The donkra stands next to its zebra mother soon after it was born yesterday in Xiamen, China


A donkra, the offspring of a zebra and a donkey stands beside its zebra mother in a wildlife park in Xiamen, China, yesterday.

This donkra was born on Sunday morning to the only zebra in the park.

Zoo keeper Lin, said she witnessed the natural mating between the zebra and a donkey last summer, but was astonished when she discovered the zebra was pregnant in February.


You can take a donkra to water... It born on Sunday morning to the only zebra in the park


The term donkra is specifically applied to offspring with a zebra mother and a donkey father but can also be referred to as a zebroid.

However, when a zebra stallion mates with a jenny donkey, it is known only as a zebroid and these are much more common than donkras.

During the South African War the Boers crossed ponies with zebras for transport work such as moving guns, according to Wikipedia.


Donkras, with a mother zebra and father donkey, are much more rare than zebroids


Charles Darwin mentioned in Origin of Species, drawings of ass/zebra hybrids saying: 'In Lord Morton's famous hybrid from a chestnut mare and male quagga, the hybrid, and even the pure offspring subsequently produced from the mare by a black Arabian sire, were much more plainly barred across the legs than even the pure quagga.'

In modern times they are used as curiosities and feature in circuses or small zoos.
Eden Ostrich World in Cumbria took delivery of a zony when one of its Shetland ponies was left in a field with a zebra.

source: dailymail

Lion regrets making this zebra cross... after he lashes out with a kick to his face

By Daily Mail Reporter


Take that! The hind legs of the zebra slam into the lion's face and jaw, leaving him dazed but he is soon after the animal again


It was like the scene from the hit film Madagascar when hungry Alex the lion sees his friend Marty the zebra as his next meal.

But as in the film this lion was left hungry after he chose to make this particularly zebra cross - and was rewarded with an almighty kick to the face.

These amazing images were captured from the safety of a truck in Ngorongoro Conservation area, Tanzania, by wildlife fanatic Thomas Whetten.


In them, the zebra, who was blissfully unaware that a pack of lions were on the prowl for lunch, casually strolls through the grasslands.

But hiding in the grass, one of the killing machines creeps up on the oblivious animal, who becomes spooked and bolts.

The lion's speed means he swiftly catches up with his potential meal, leaping on its back and sinking its teeth deep into the zebra's flesh.

Undaunted, the zebra desperately fights to save its life - ducking, diving and weaving to shake off the predator.

The end? The lion easily catches the spooked zebra and grabs onto the back of the desperate animal before sinking his teeth into its flesh

Ducking, diving and weaving: The zebra uses all its strength to fight off the lion before delivering the almighty blow with its legs


And with one big buck the zebra manages to catch the lion square in the face - knocking it to the ground.

Amazingly, the big cat manages to regain his footing and continue to snap at its legs as it flees - almost managing to sink a big bite into the zebra's rear end.

But after a high-speed chase, the lion is embarrassingly dumped into a muddy puddle - leaving him humiliated in front of a group of females.

Mr Whetten, from Tucson, Arizona, and who runs photographic tours of Africa said: 'We were all stood up in the safari jeep watching these two packs of lions when suddenly this zebra walks between both sets.

Not this time: The lion, with his jaws wide open and ready, makes a leap at the zebra's leg but he managed to escape its grasp


'He was completely unaware that they were even there and the lady standing next to me started screaming 'run zebra run' but it didn't take any notice.

'The next we know the lion is chasing him, jumps on its back but it managed to kick the lion into a big mud puddle.

'The funny thing is some people in another jeep got bored of watching the lions simply standing there and left before the action - missing it all.

'It was spectacular - even better than you see at the movies. It's very rare for a zebra to get away without being mauled at all.'


Best of friends... and enemies: The battle between lion and zebra invoked memories of a scene in the 2005 film Madagascar



source:dailymail