Rooting for Zebras

(Little Green Notebook)

Like so many others, I watched in wonder as Ed the zebra ran around loose in Tennessee for eight days several weeks ago. If you missed the story, here it is in a nutshell.

A couple bought the zebra from somewhere in Texas to be the ultimate “wow factor” on their family’s ranch which is already home to over one hundred animals including chickens, dogs, bison, cattle, turkey, and three human children.

Within hours of his delivery, the zebra escaped. Ed’s freedom run provided much amusement to the watchful eyes of the public.

Despite a nation of division, sparring camps and tribes united and rallied around Ed’s big adventure. Memes, cakes, and songs were created and shared as Ed evaded his captors for over a week. Just for a moment there, we all stopped and rooted for the same team: Team Ed. I’m not sure what we were rooting for, other than a distraction from real life.

Of course, anyone with a heart was worried about Ed. Obviously, he was frightened and confused. Regardless of where he was born, his instincts told him he belonged in Africa. Where was his savannah? Where were the other zebras?

Ed was finally captured by a crew from Texas and helicoptered to safety. He is now at home in a zoo. We are collectively relieved that he is no longer on the loose on the highways.

As Ed showed us, zebras do indeed run like the wind. They are meant to roam. Every year, zebras participate in the Great Migration, the largest animal migration on the planet. Over 1.2 million wildebeests and hundreds of thousands of zebras and gazelles make the 1200-mile trek from Tanzania to Kenya and back on an amorphous looping route that shifts and changes with weather and other conditions. Along with these grazing animals come the predators and scavengers. It’s quite the tourist attraction.

This migration is an example of the mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship, called mutualism, between wildebeests and zebras. Wildebeests are grazers, meaning they favor course vegetation, while zebras are browsers, preferring the more tender shoots and leaves. In simpler terms, wildebeests eat the longer grasses, and the zebras follow, eating the shorter grasses left behind. Together they lick the platter clean, like Jack Sprat and his wife.

Not only do they benefit each other with this complementary eating pattern, but their foraging makes room for other plant growth, smaller herbivores, and birds to thrive. Together, zebras and wildebeests are an integral part of the African savannah ecosystem.

I had the incredibly good fortune to be in Kenya one year during the Great Migration through Maasai Mara, where I was camping as part of a research team. There were afternoons when all we could see, from horizon to horizon, were wildebeests, zebras, and gazelles. An occasional giraffe neck broke the animal skyline.

We saw so many zebras and wildebeests that I came to think of zebras as common. Ho-hum, here come the zebras. They barked at night outside our tents. They came close enough to bring their flies and their musky smells with them. If I’d been of a mind to, I bet I could’ve learned to distinguish one zebra from another with their unique patterns of stripes.

I didn’t realize then that zebras are not a dime a dozen. There are three species of zebra: plains zebras which are the ones I saw, are classified as Near Threatened. Grevy’s zebras, who have a mulish countenance, are Endangered, and mountain zebras are Vulnerable. Habitat loss, hunting, and disease - usually a direct result of habitat loss and drought - are their primary threats.

Even as an avid equine enthusiast, I’ve never clamored to own a zebra. While there may be accounts of a tame zebra here and there, zebras have never been domesticated. This is in direct opposition to horses, who, except for the few Przewalski horses in existence, are all domesticated. Zebras have been known to attack humans, charging them at forty-five miles an hour, and can kill lions with their forceful kicks. There are even reports of zebras kicking each other to death.

Still, I love zebras. I love wildebeests, wart hogs, and hyenas too. I love these animals for what they are, their biting, kicking, bone-crushing, goring selves, not for their adorable singing and dancing Disney portrayals. I love them as necessary components of their natural habitats, and I recognize that these habitats, even with the harsh factors of predation and the looming climate crisis, are the best place for them in all but extreme cases.

As for those who feel differently and want a pet zebra, know that they are considered exotic pets in Alabama and ownership requires a special permit. Tennesseans, however, are allowed to possess zebras, kangaroos, and camels at their leisure, but must obtain a permit to own a white-tailed deer.