Zebra stripes confuse bloodsucking flies and could inspire anti-bug device

Sarah Knapton, science editor

20 FEBRUARY 2019 • 7:00PM

Rudyard Kipling supposed the zebra acquired its stripes so it could blend into the forest shadows, hidden away from the leopard and man.

But the markings also hold another advantage, scientists have discovered, after finding they disorientate bothersome bloodsucking horse flies.

Researchers at Bristol University used video analysis to test whether flies were more likely to attack zebra or non-striped horses at a stables in North Somerset.

They found that although flies circled and touched horses and zebras at similar rates, they actually landed on zebras 25 per cent less often.

Continued

S.African conservationists seek to revive extinct zebra species

Date: February 11, 2016

Source: AFP / Powered by NewsLook.com

Summary:

In a spectacular valley less than two hours' drive north of Cape Town, a small herd of animals provides the chance to travel back in time over more than a century, where a small group of scientists and conservationists believe they have recreated the extinct quagga, a subspecies of the zebra known for its unstriped hindquarters. Video provided by AFP

Watch video

The great hike of zebra migration

Posted by: Leya Musa / 5 hours ago

The longest migration to date for wildlife has been recorded with zebras travelling a round trip of 500km between Namibia and Botswana. The distance covered each year by several thousands of zebras was discovered following radio tagging of some of the animals. The study was undertaken by researchers from WWF, Elephants without Borders and Botswana’s Department of Wildlife and National Parks.

Eight plains zebras (Equus quagga) had radio collars fitted and were monitored over a 2 year period. The zebras were discovered to migrate between the Chobe River in Namibia and Botswana’s Nxai Pan National Park. The total straight-line round trip would cover 500kms.

“This unexpected discovery of endurance in an age dominated by humans, where we think we know most everything about the natural world, underscores the importance of continued science and research for conservation” said Dr. Robin Naidoo, senior conservation scientist at WWF.

Continued

Zebras tranquillised from air to study migration

http://www.livescience.com/45892-zebras-tranquilized-from-air-to-study-migration-video.html

This Adorable 'Zonkey' Is What You Get When You Cross A Zebra And A Dwarf Albino Donkey

Internet, meet Khumba.

Khumba's mother, Rayas, is a zebra, and his father, Ignacio, is a dwarf blue-eyed albino donkey. That makes Khumba a "zonkey," a rare cross between a zebra and a donkey.

The animal was born on April 21 at the Reynosa Zoo in Mexico's northeastern state of Tamaulipas.

A zoo spokesperson told NBC12 that Rayas used to visit Ignacio every afternoon. The donkey had also been known to sneak into the zoo to see her.

Continued and video

Scientists solve the riddle of zebras' stripes: Those pesky bugs

Date:

April 1, 2014

Source:

University of California - Davis

Summary:

Why zebras have black and white stripes is a question that has intrigued scientists and spectators for centuries. Scientists now examined this riddle systematically.

Continued

Uganda translocates zebra and impala to boost Katonga Wildlife Reserve

Zebras, Impalas translocated to Katonga Wildlife Reserve

August 2013. The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has completed the first phase of the restocking of Katonga Wildlife Reserve, which is part of the Kibale Conservation Area in Western Uganda, with zebras and impalas. The wildlife translocated to Katonga was captured from the ranches around Lake Mburo National Park in July 2013.

According to Dr. Patrick Atimnedi, the Veterinary Coordinator of the UWA, the next phase will see translocation of more zebras, elands and topis.

Katonga Wildlife Reserve

Katonga Wildlife Reserve is a national park in western Uganda, along the banks of River Katonga. It protects a network of forest-fringed wetlands along the Katonga River. Best explored by foot and by canoe, it is home to more than forty species of mammals and one hundred and fifty species of birds; many of them specific to wetland habitats.

Commonly sighted in the wetland reserve are elephant, waterbuck, reedbuck, colobus monkeys and river otters. Also found in this habitat is the shy Sitatunga, a semi-aquatic antelope with webbed hooves.

The Chief Conservation Area manager, Charles Tumwesigye says this has been the first translocation exercise done by UWA without external support.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/katonga-wildlife.html

Fake Zebra Escape Drill: Japan's Tama Zoo Runs Exercise To Prepare For Escaped Animals (VIDEO)

What happens if a zebra escapes from your zoo? The staff at Tokyo's Tama Zoo are totally prepared for this eventuality.

Staff members from the zoo ran a drill that involved nets, tranquilizer guns, dozens of staff members and one unfortunate soul dressed up in a man-sized zebra costume. The Times of London reports that the drill is an annual event and part of an earthquake drill.

"If something major actually happens, then of course there's the real animals.

"But there is a performance aspect to this, in that it's also to increase staff's awareness. If something were to actually escape then of course that would be very bad," zoo director Naoki Tabata told ITN news.

The simulation was quite thorough. In it, the zebra 'hurts' a zookeeper, can be seen acting agitated and then finally gets 'tranquilized' and is subdued by zoo staff.

Yosuke Tanaka, a new staff member at the zoo and the zebra re-enactor, did mention one unfortunate aspect of his role.

"I'd have to warn them that the inside does indeed become a bit stinky with sweat and so they should think about how to deal with that," he told the Guardian.



http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/02/01/fake-zebra-escape-drill-video_n_2601709.html

Men In Suits Chase Zebra Chasing Horse In Staten Island Store Parking Lot (VIDEO)

Metropolitan Drape & Blind shop owner Zachary Osher got his morning off to a galloping start Wednesday when he saw a zebra and a horse running loose down a Staten Island street.

"I was sitting at my desk at about 9:20 [a.m.] when I saw a zebra and pony run back and forth across the street, almost getting hit by a car," Osher told the Staten Island Advance. The chase took place in the Travis neighborhood of New York's Staten Island.

Osher said the impromptu parade was joined by two men in dark black suits, who ran by 30 seconds later carrying lassoes. Fortunately, a quick-thinking Osher got the whole scene on video with his iPhone.

By 10 a.m. police had been called to investigate, according to The New York Times. A representative told the paper that both animals were safely apprehended and returned to a petting zoo at 3633 Victory Blvd.

While there is no such zoo officially listed, according to The Times, this Twitter picture from two weeks ago in the same general area, suggests there is a zebra residence in the neighborhood.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/28/men-in-suits-chase-zebra-chasing-horse-staten-island-parking-lot_n_2207070.html

Zebra virus kills polar bear in German zoo

Zoos should be on the alert for viruses that can jump from one animal to another, threatening endangered species, say researchers.

The cause of an infection that killed a polar bear at a German zoo has been traced back to the zebra house, scientists report in Current Biology.

Viruses spreading to unexpected hosts may threaten the conservation mission of zoos, they warn.

Most pathogens are adapted to one host but some can leap the species barrier.

Flu, for example, is thought to have moved between pigs, birds and humans during its evolution.

Mystery illness

An international team of researchers carried out some DNA detective work after two polar bears at the Zoological Gardens in Wuppertal, Germany, were struck down by a mystery illness.

Two bears contracted the brain infection encephalitis, suffering seizures and frothing at the mouth.

One - a 20-year-old female, Jerka, died after little more than a week.

Continued:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19287697

How the Zebra Gets Its Stripes: A Simple Genetic Circuit

ScienceDaily (Oct. 14, 2011) — Many living things have stripes, but the developmental processes that create these and other patterns are complex and difficult to untangle.

Now a team of scientists has designed a simple genetic circuit that creates a striped pattern that they can control by tweaking a single gene.

"The essential components can be buried in a complex physiological context," said Terence Hwa, a professor of physics at the University of California, San Diego, and one of the leaders of the study published October 14 in Science. "Natural systems make all kinds of wonderful patterns, but the problem is you never know what's really controlling it."

With genes taken from one species of bacterium and inserted into another, Hwa and colleagues from the University of Hong Kong assembled a genetic loop from two linked modules that senses how crowded a group of cells has become and responds by controlling their movements.

One of the modules secretes a chemical signal called acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL). As the bacterial colony grows, AHL floods the accumulating cells, causing them to tumble in place rather than swim. Stuck in the agar of their dish, they pile up.

Because AHL doesn't diffuse very far, a few cells escape and swim away to begin the process again.
Left to grow overnight, the cells create a target-like pattern of concentric rings of crowded and dispersed bacterial cells. By tweaking just one gene that limits how fast and far cells can swim, the researchers were able to control the number of rings the bacteria made. They can also manipulate the pattern by modifying how long AHL lasts before it degrades.

Although individual bacteria are single cells, as colonies they can act like a multicellular organism, sending and receiving signals to coordinate the growth and other functions of the colony. That means fundamental rules that govern the development of these patterns could well apply to critical steps in the development of other organisms.

To uncover these fundamental rules, Hwa and colleagues characterized the performance of their synthetic genetic circuit in two ways.

First, they precisely measured both the activity of individual genes in the circuit throughout the tumble-and-swim cycle. Then they derived a mathematical equation that describes the probability of cells flipping between swim and tumble motions.

Additional equations describe other aspects of the system, such as the dynamics of the synthesis, diffusion and deactivation of one of the cell-to-cell chemical signal AHL.

This three-pronged approach of "wet-lab" experiments, precise measurements of the results, and mathematical modeling of the system, characterize the emerging discipline of quantitative biology, Hwa said. "This is a prototype, a model of the kind of biology we want to do."

Co-authors include Jian-Dong Huang, associate professor of biochemistry at the University of Hong Kong additional researchers at Hong Kong Baptist University, the University of Marburg, and the University of Hong Kong including members of the 2008 iGEM team, which Hwa co-advised as a Distinguished Visiting Professor at UHK.

Hwa is a senior scientist with UC San Diego's Center for Theoretical Biological Physics.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111013141820.htm

Grazing Zebras Versus Cattle: Not So Black and White

ScienceDaily (Sep. 22, 2011) — African ranchers often prefer to keep wild grazers like zebra off the grass that fattens their cattle. But a new study by UC Davis and Kenyan researchers shows that grazing by wild animals doesn't always harm -- and can sometimes benefit -- cattle. The results are published Sept. 23 in the journal Science.

"Although savanna rangelands worldwide are managed on the premise that cattle and wildlife compete for food, there is little scientific information to support this assumption," said Wilfred Odadi, a researcher at the Mpala Research Centre in Kenya.

"Our findings provide further evidence that biodiversity conservation and economic development can be simultaneously achieved in human-occupied savanna landscapes," he said.

Truman Young, a professor of plant sciences at UC Davis and senior author of the study, said the interaction between cattle and wildlife is more complicated than has been appreciated.

"When we look at the effect of wildlife on cattle, we find that they sometimes do suppress weight gain by cattle, but also sometimes enhance it," Young said.

"Generally the decision has been to exclude wild animals, but we're saying that things are not that simple," he said.

The researchers enclosed 10-acre plots of savanna rangeland inside fences to exclude wild animals (principally zebra). Then they weighed the cattle grazing inside and outside the fences to measure how much weight they put on at different times of the year.

The research team found that during the dry season, cattle that grazed with wild animals had reduced weight gain -- the bottom line for ranchers. But in the wet season, cattle actually put on more weight when they grazed alongside wildlife.

The explanation is that during the wet season, grass can grow long and become rank, inaccessible and poor in nutritional value.

"When the grass grows very fast and is at risk of becoming rank, having zebras is beneficial," Young said. "They are more than willing to knock back the rank grass."

That means higher-quality, fresher grass for the cattle.

It's not yet clear whether there is a net benefit over a whole year or series of years, Young said, because conditions can vary considerably from year to year. Ranchers are beginning to explore additional ways to control rank grass, such as controlled burns.

The other coauthors of the study are Moses Karachi, Egerton University, Kenya and Shaukat Abdulrazak, National Council for Science and Technology, Nairobi, Kenya. The work was funded by the Smithsonian Institution, the National Geographic Society, the National Science Foundation, the African Elephant Program of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the International Foundation for Science.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110922141900.htm

Zebras corraled after wandering Calif. streets

Aug 16, 3:39 PM EDT

CARMICHAEL, Calif. (AP) -- Two zebras are now safe on an Oregon ranch after a wild romp through the streets of a Northern California suburb over the weekend. The zebras were being loaded onto a truck Saturday evening in Carmichael, east of Sacramento, when they were spooked by dogs and went running in opposite directions.

Confused residents reported zebra sightings throughout the downtown area for next five hours until sheriff's deputies were able to round them back up.

Bystanders helped corral one of them after it was hit by a car. The zebra suffered only a superficial cut.

The second zebra was found in the pool of an apartment complex.

Their owner, Michael Mastagni, transported his entire herd of seven zebras, including the two runaways, to his ranch in Bly, Ore., on Sunday.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_ODD_LOOSE_ZEBRAS

Uncommon hybrid of zebra and donkey born at north Georgia wildlife preserve (Via D R Shoop)

http://www.startribune.com/nation/99337569.html?elr=KArks8c7PaP3E77K_3c::D3aDhUMEaPc:E7_ec7PaP3iUiacyKU7DYaGEP7vDEh7P:DiUX

DAHLONEGA, Ga. - A zedonk, an unusual cross between a donkey and a zebra, is attracting attention at the Chestatee Wildlife Preserve in Dahlonega after being born there about a week ago. The animal, which has a zebra father and donkey mother, has black stripes prominently displayed on her legs and face.

C.W. Wathen, the preserve's founder and general manager, said the foal has a zebra's instincts. Wathen said she sits up instead of lying on her side, as if she's staying alert for predators.

Donkeys and zebras don't usually mate, but zedonks turn up occasionally.

Wathen said that in about two weeks, the zedonk will begin roaming the property with the rest of the animals.

___

Information from: The Times, http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/

Zebra herd allowed to stay

16 July 2010

The sculptor who created the popular zebra sculptures beside a lake in southern New South Wales has been thrown a lifeline.

Authorities initially ordered the herd's removal, but authorities appear to have had a change of heart.

Canberra sculptor Alan Aston installed the four life-size zebras beside Lake George around 20 kilometres north-east of Canberra one month ago.

Mr Aston did so without permission from the Department of Land and Property Management Authority.

The department says it ordered the herd's removal after a complaint from the grazier who leases the land. However, Mr Aston says the department has changed its mind.

"I don't think it is a backdown. I just think it is different people in the department are having different views," he said.

He has been advised to lodge a development application with the local council, improve fencing, signage and provide public liability insurance.

The department ordered their removal after a complaint. But everyone from local gardeners to the Canberra Airport and the racing industry's Briony Young hit back.

"It's such a great landscape to see when you are driving into the gateway of Canberra," she said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/07/16/2956050.htm

Six amazing hybrid animals

Bryan Nelson, Mother Nature Network – Mon May 3, 6:28 pm ET

Ligers, tigons and grolar bears, oh my! Take a look at some of these otherworldly hybrid animals and you'll realize the possibilities are endless.

Though they rarely occur in nature, individuals from different but closely related species do occasionally mate, and the result is a biological hybrid — an offspring that shares traits from both parent species. You may have heard of the mysterious sheep-pig creature, but it turns out that one isn't a true hybrid.

Here are six bizarre, but truly unique half-breeds.

(Photo: Wiki Commons / GNU)Zebroids

A zebroid is the offspring of a cross between a zebra and any other equine, usually a horse or a donkey. There are zorses, zonkeys, zonies, and a host of other combinations.

Zebroids are an interesting example of hybrids bred from species that have a radically different number of chromosomes. For instance, horses have 64 chromosomes and zebra have between 32 and 44 (depending on species). Even so, nature finds a way.

(Photo: Jason Douglas / Wiki Commons / public domain)Savannah cats

Savannah cats are -- contrary to popular belief -- from a coastal town in Georgia. But what they are is what you get from mixing your everyday domestic cat with an African Serval cat. Historians believe the first one was bred sometime in the mid 1980s by a cat breeder in, of all places, Pennsylvania. The International Cat Association first recognized the cat in 1996. The hybrid cat can now be purchased or perused in copies of 'Savannah's Illustrated' magazine.

(Photo: aliwest44 / Flickr)Ligers

Ligers are the cross of a male lion and a female tiger, and they are the largest of all living cats and felines. Their massive size may be a result of imprinted genes which are not fully expressed in their parents, but are left unchecked when the two different species mate. Some female ligers can grow to 10 feet in length and weigh more than 700 pounds.

Ligers are distinct from tigons, which come from a female lion and male tiger. Various other big cat hybrids have been created too, including leopons (a leopard and a lion mix), jaguleps (a jaguar and leopard mix), and even lijaguleps (a lion and jagulep mix).

(Photo: Mark Interrante (aka pinhole) / Flickr)Wholphins

A cross between a false killer whale and an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin, wholphins are hybrids that have been reported to exist in the wild. There are currently two in captivity, both at Sea Life Park in Hawaii.

The wholphin's size, color, and shape are intermediate between the parent species. Even their number of teeth is mixed; a bottlenose has 88 teeth, a false killer whale has 44 teeth, and a wholphin has 66.

(Photo: via Inhabitots.com)Grolar bears

The offspring of a grizzly bear and a polar bear, a grolar bear is one beast you don't want to meet in the woods. Interestingly, unlike many hybrid animals on this list, grolar bears are known to occur naturally in the wild.

Some experts predict that polar bears may be driven to breed with grizzly bears at an increased frequency due to global warming, and the fact that polar bears are being forced from their natural habitats on the polar ice.

(Photo: via readthesmiths.com)Beefalo

Beefalo are the fertile offspring of domestic cattle and American bison. Crosses also exist between domestic cattle and European bison (zubrons) and yaks (yakows). The name given to beefalo might be the most suggestive, since the breed was purposely created to combine the best characteristics of both animals with an eye towards beef production.

A USDA study showed that beefalo meat, like bison meat, tends to be lower in fat and cholesterol. They are also thought to produce less damage to range-land than cattle.

Bryan Nelson is a regular contributor to Mother Nature Network, where a version of this post originally appeared.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ygreen/20100503/sc_ygreen/sixamazinghybridanimals

Zookeepers paint donkeys like zebras

11 October 2009
By sss

Gaza City zoo has found a creative way of drawing crowds to its dilapidated attraction by painting their donkeys as zebras.

The Marah Land Zoo's only two zebras died of hunger earlier this year when they were neglected during the Israel-Hamas war.

They were too expensive to replace, so the keepers decided to design a pair of donkeys with black and white patterns instead.

A professional painter used French-manufactured hair colouring to make the donkeys look like zebras.

http://www.lep.co.uk/weirdnews/Zookeepers-paint-donkeys-like-zebras.5722809.jp

See also:

• http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?Gaza_zoo_replaces_zebras_by_painting_donkeys&in_article_id=750298&in_page_id=2
• http://web.orange.co.uk/article/quirkies/zoo_paints_stripes_on_donkeys

WHALE COLLIDES WITH ZEBRA

A pensioner died after a "collision" with a zebra while on holiday in Africa, a coroner has said.

Eileen Whale, 77, of Ipswich, was in Kenya with husband Charles late last year when the incident occurred and died in hospital in Ipswich in February, said coroner Peter Dean.

An inquest was due to take place on Wednesday to examine the circumstances around Mrs Whale's death but Dr Dean adjourned the hearing to a date to be fixed, saying further inquiries needed to take place.

He said the hearing was adjourned following discussions with Mrs Whale's relatives.

Dr Dean said the cause of death given when Mrs Whale's inquest was opened earlier this year was pancreatitis.

It is understood that doctors will try to establish any links between injuries caused as a result of the zebra collision and her death.

http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/uk_national_news/4443120.OAP_dies_after_collision_with_zebra/