Call the doctor, we’re in love. What’s more awesome than a horse? A zebra. And what’s cuter than a zebra? A baby zebra. Do you know what’s even cuter? A baby zebra with spots instead of stripes!
A rare polka dot baby zebra was spotted (pun intended) in Kenya, and the internet is going wild. The animal has already captured many a heart (ours included), and photos of the adorable creature have gone viral. What’s more, we might finally put to bed the age-old question of whether zebras are white with black stripes or black with white stripes.
Photographers captured pictures of an adorable polka dot zebra in Kenya
Image credits: Maasai Mara Wildlife Conservancies Association
Image credits: catersnews
Image credits: catersnews
The unusual zebra was seen in the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya, where photographers Rahul Sachdev and Antony Tira, who is also a tour guide, snapped some photos of it.
Parmale Lemein, a wildlife specialist from the Matira Bush Camp, told the Daily Nation that this was the first such case of a polka dot zebra at the Mara Reserve. It’s most likely that the baby zebra has melanism, which is the opposite of albinism. However, he had some sad news: no similar zebras have survived past six months with such a condition in African parks.
Pictures of the baby zebra went viral online
Image credits: catersnews
Image credits: catersnews
Image credits: catersnews
According to some scientists, zebra stripes form when there’s an inhibition in melanin production, meaning that the animal is most likely black with white stripes and not the opposite.
But zebra stripes aren’t just for show. Live Science argues that they help the animals stay cool in the African heat. There are also theories that stripes help zebras hide from potential predators, and also help them avoid getting bitten by flies that are known to transmit diseases.
You can see the video of the beautiful baby zebra here
Image credits: Caters Clips
Dear Pandas, what do you think of the polka dot zebra? Do you think that zebras are white with black stripes or black with white stripes like some scientists argue? Let us know in the comments below.
The internet was instantly in love
Beautiful. I hope it has a long and healthy life
(Going to tell this story again, like I did on the last picture of zebras). Once in Iran a man asked me if I had seen Iran's famous white Zebras - pure white Zebras without the stripes. I said I never heard of them would love to see them....He took me to see some white donkeys.
During grad school I was studying elk herds in the Rockies and we would go out before daylight to place cameras. For the ones we set higher in the trees, we would use climbing treestands. One morning I was hiking into a place carrying my camera and stand and kept hearing something following me. Where I was you're thinking mountain lion so I had already accepted my fate. The weird thing was, every time I stopped, the thing following me would stop (every 50 yards or so I would stop). I made it to the tree I was to climb to mount a camera and take my treestand off my back. Turns out the 30 ft pull up rope I had attached to my stand had come undone and was dragging behind me.
Bravo,. Seriously, this is the best story. I feel like I've been there for some reason.
Seems you are not smart enough to realize you could see one of the most rare and endangered species. Let me ques, American- right...?! well, not surprised. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_onager
On the flip side, I can say it isn't surprising to see a non-American condescending to an American on BP. Plus, that was a little too damn aggressive for a comical post by Jon. There was simply no call for it. Furthermore, you do know there are nearly 9 million animal species on earth, right? So, I don't know that we should expect a person (American or not) to know all of them. I'm a wildlife biologist and still fairly unfamiliar with the Onager, so it would be silly and unreasonable for me to expect others to be familiar with every species of animal out there.
Farnaz, no offence, I've never heard of this very endangered species before. They do resemble donkeys. The guide may not have had the words to explain how rare they are. Thank you for bringing them to bored panda.
Awww can't scientist's come up with a miracle cure to extend its life 🤔❤️
I wish!
😭
You mean like Large Predator Repellent?
Some sort of jacket would probably do the trick.
Maybe a blaze orange vest
Perhaps talk to Foot Locker about a sponsorship.
Yeah they didn't say the cause of death. I doubt it's the melanism itself, probably they attract too much heat with darker colours and/or are easier to spot by predators
Beautiful. I hope it has a long and healthy life
(Going to tell this story again, like I did on the last picture of zebras). Once in Iran a man asked me if I had seen Iran's famous white Zebras - pure white Zebras without the stripes. I said I never heard of them would love to see them....He took me to see some white donkeys.
During grad school I was studying elk herds in the Rockies and we would go out before daylight to place cameras. For the ones we set higher in the trees, we would use climbing treestands. One morning I was hiking into a place carrying my camera and stand and kept hearing something following me. Where I was you're thinking mountain lion so I had already accepted my fate. The weird thing was, every time I stopped, the thing following me would stop (every 50 yards or so I would stop). I made it to the tree I was to climb to mount a camera and take my treestand off my back. Turns out the 30 ft pull up rope I had attached to my stand had come undone and was dragging behind me.
Bravo,. Seriously, this is the best story. I feel like I've been there for some reason.
Seems you are not smart enough to realize you could see one of the most rare and endangered species. Let me ques, American- right...?! well, not surprised. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_onager
On the flip side, I can say it isn't surprising to see a non-American condescending to an American on BP. Plus, that was a little too damn aggressive for a comical post by Jon. There was simply no call for it. Furthermore, you do know there are nearly 9 million animal species on earth, right? So, I don't know that we should expect a person (American or not) to know all of them. I'm a wildlife biologist and still fairly unfamiliar with the Onager, so it would be silly and unreasonable for me to expect others to be familiar with every species of animal out there.
Farnaz, no offence, I've never heard of this very endangered species before. They do resemble donkeys. The guide may not have had the words to explain how rare they are. Thank you for bringing them to bored panda.
Awww can't scientist's come up with a miracle cure to extend its life 🤔❤️
I wish!
😭
You mean like Large Predator Repellent?
Some sort of jacket would probably do the trick.
Maybe a blaze orange vest
Perhaps talk to Foot Locker about a sponsorship.
Yeah they didn't say the cause of death. I doubt it's the melanism itself, probably they attract too much heat with darker colours and/or are easier to spot by predators