FLASHBACK FRIDAY: A DAZZLE OF ZEBRAS

Groups of animals have collective nouns, like a pride of lions or a school of fish.  A group of zebras is called a dazzle.  The term is excellently appropriate.  You may wonder why zebras have such clearly obvious stripes that any predator can see.  The reason is that predators like lions or hyenas always target a specific individual in the group that’s weak, young or vulnerable.  To be dazzled is to be confused or bewildered, and that’s just what zebra stripes do to attacking predators.  As the zebras merge on the run, it’s far more difficult for the predator keep focused on the selected target – so the zebras escape unscathed far more often than not.  Their stripes are a marvel of evolutionary survival.  This photo was taken on the plains of the Serengeti.  (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #285, photo ©Jack Wheeler)