Zebra safari Kenya Africa
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

Zebras: A Photographic Essay

here is no mistaking those distinctive striped equids known as zebras, which abound plentiful in Kenya — especially in the Masai Mara National Reserve, where I went on safari earlier this year.

Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

Zebras tend to be social animals which congregate in herds; and within those herds form groups known as harems consisting of one stallion and up to six mares — along with their offspring, of course.

Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

They also seem to be rather playful…

Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

…but they are not known to be sociable to human beings, however.

Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

Zebras can sleep standing up; and they are constantly grazing on a variety of different types of grasses. They are known to migrate up to as many as 1,800 miles for food.

Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

Zebras are considered to be nomadic, as they tend not to stay in one place.

Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

Without a defined territory, zebras are potentially vulnerable to a number of predators, which include lions and hyenas — and even crocodiles when zebras cross through rivers. Zebras protect themselves from predators by huddling together in a group while the stallion attempts to thwart the predator from attacking — and zebras are quite vocal when they sense or see a predator within the area.

Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

I could not resist posting the looks on the faces of both zebras in the photograph shown below. Please feel free to come up with a caption of your own which you feel best describes the photograph and post it in the Comments section below, as I will look forward to reading them.

Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

Notice how the ears are pulled backwards on the zebra to the left in the above photograph, which typically means that it is angry. When a zebra is calm — or, in this case, “friendly”, as is the other zebra in the above photograph — its ears stand erect. If a zebra is frightened, its ears tend to push forward…

…and speaking of ears, zebras have excellent hearing in addition to their equally acute senses of sight, smell and taste.

Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

As the sun was setting behind the southern Kenyan mountains, a lone zebra grazes for its dinner — and it was time for me to grab some food as well…

…and please stay tuned for additional photographic essays from my safari in Kenya in future articles.

All photographs ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

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