January 31: International Zebra Day

Today is International Zebra Day. Zebras are members of the Horse family and there are three different species: The plains zebra (Equus quagga) the mountain zebra (Equus zebra) and Grevy's zebra (Equus greyvi). Here are 10 things you might not know about them.

1. A group of zebras is called a herd, a dazzle, or a zeal.
2. Every zebra has a unique pattern of stripes which can be used to identify individuals. The first people to realise this were Hans and Ute Kingel in the 1960s. They created a whole set of index cards based on photographs they'd taken of a herd of zebras. These days, there is special software which can scan them, like a Bar code. The software can take into account any changes in the zebra's body shape, for example, if a female is pregnant.
3. Scientists don't know for sure why zebras have stripes. An early theory was that the stripes confused predators, making it harder for them to pick out individuals in a herd, or spot them in long grass. Another theory is that the Black stripes absorb more sunlight than the dark ones, leading to movement of air which cools the zebra down. Still another is that biting insects have been found to avoid stripy patterns.
4. African folk tales tell a different story. In Namibia, the story goes that the zebra was once all white, but during a fight with a baboon over a waterhole, the zebra fell into a fire, and the burning sticks left scorch marks all over it.
5. Mountain and plains zebras tend to live in herds that consist of one male and a harem of females. Surplus young males go off and form bachelor herds. They may, from time to time, try to take over an existing harem but even if they can defeat the resident stallion, it can take up to three years for the females to accept him enough to mate with him. Grevy's zebras are a bit different. The males claim an area of land and then just wait for a female to wander by. Some males without territories may form bachelor herds too, and are tolerated by the males with territories, at least until a receptive female comes along and then all hell breaks loose!
6. Being members of the horse family, they can breed with other members of the horse family and create various sterile hybrids. The offspring of a zebra stallion and a mare is called a zorse; a male horse and a female zebra produce a hebra. A zebra stallion and a female donkey's offsping is called a zedonk. A female zebra and a male Donkey produce a zebret or a zebrinny. There are also zonies, which is what you get when a zebra breeds with a pony.
7. Unlike other members of the horse family, zebras have never been domesticated. While attempts have been made in the past to train them for riding because they are more resistant to some diseases than horses, they mostly failed because zebras have an unpredictable nature and tend to panic when under stress.
8. Plains zebras are good for making ungrazed areas habitable by other grazing animals. They can eat harder, older and lower quality foliage, digest it quickly and poop out fertilizer so plants more palatable to other animals can grow.
9. When chased by a predator, a zebra will zig zag as it runs away which makes it harder for the predator to attack. If it gets cornered, the zebra will rear up, kick and bite.
10. Their distinctive appearance makes them popular in art and symbolism. Botswana's coat of arms has two zebras on it, and they have been used as mascots for products such as fruit stripe gum, and Zebra Technologies, which develop bar codes. Sports teams whose colours are black and white are sometimes nicknamed "the zebras".

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Settling the Score

Another collection of short stories, even more murder and mayhem with carol singers, an orchestra out for revenge, a sinister magic stone and a haunted mansion.

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A Tale of Two Sisters

During a battle with supervillains, a horrific accident leaves the Warner family with no option but to believe their youngest daughter, Jessica, is dead. It doesn't occur to them that the bad guys could, or would, save her.

Jessica wakes up with no memory of who she is or how she came to be on a space station with two bionic legs, a bionic arm and a bionic eye. She is told her family abandoned her and is sent back to Earth with a mission - to kill them. While Jessica wants to kill her family, along with the twin boys who once rejected her, she knows what the Alliance of Supervillains are asking her to do is a suicide mission. She decides to get her revenge in her own way.

As Jessica puts the first part of her revenge plan in motion, she finds herself with an agonising decision to make. Before she can decide, the Alliance come for her, determined to make her do their bidding. This time, it's the Alliance who leave her, crippled and at the mercy of the Warner family, who have no idea who the Alliance's Black Rose really is.

Jessica finds herself having to re-think her decisions in light of what she now learns about her family, the Alliance, the twins, and herself. It would appear the Alliance have left her with an unwanted and permanent reminder of her time with them. Or have they?

Jessica's older sister, Jill, knows her destiny is to be a doctor and specialise in bionics and genetic variant medicine. She is also hopelessly in love with Christopher, Crown Prince of Galorvia. Can their romance survive the lies Christopher told her when they were both at school, an unplanned pregnancy and Sophie, the wannabe princess who comes between them?

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