Zebras, iconic inhabitants of Africa’s diverse landscapes, are primarily herbivores, meaning their diet consists exclusively of plant matter. These striped equids play a significant role in their ecosystems as grazers, consuming various types of vegetation found in their natural habitats, which range from savannas and grasslands to more mountainous regions. Their feeding habits are well-adapted to the African environment, allowing them to thrive by utilizing available plant resources.
Their Primary Food Source
The cornerstone of a zebra’s diet is grass, making up approximately 90% of their food intake. Zebras are non-ruminant grazers, equipped to process large quantities of fibrous grasses. While they prefer shorter, greener, and more nutritious grasses during wet seasons, they can also consume tougher, longer, and drier varieties when preferred options are scarce. Common grass types in their diet include red oat grass, Bermuda grass, buffalo grass, star grass, and couch grass, depending on the zebra species and region. This ability to digest coarser grasses allows them to occupy an important ecological niche, often preparing grazing areas for other herbivores that require more tender vegetation.
Supplemental Foraging
When primary grass sources become less abundant, especially during dry seasons or in less fertile areas, zebras supplement their diet with other plant materials. These fallback options include leaves, shoots, stems, bark, and roots. For example, zebras may consume young, tender leaves from trees and bushes, such as acacia or mopane, during droughts. They can also strip bark from trees or dig for underground plant parts like corms and rhizomes, which provide moisture and nutrients when surface vegetation is limited. While not their preferred food, their consumption demonstrates zebras’ adaptability to varying environmental conditions.
Eating Adaptations and Water Needs
Eating Adaptations
Zebras possess specialized physical characteristics enabling their herbivorous diet. Their strong front teeth, incisors, are well-suited for clipping tough grass blades, while high-crowned molars at the back of their mouths effectively grind fibrous plant material. These teeth continuously grow throughout a zebra’s life to compensate for wear from constant chewing. Their digestive system operates through hindgut fermentation, where microbes in the large intestine break down tough plant fibers. This system allows zebras to extract nutrients from lower-quality forage; to compensate for its less efficient nature compared to ruminant digestive systems, zebras spend a significant portion of their day, often up to 18 hours, grazing to consume sufficient quantities of food.
Water Needs
Water is also essential for zebras, as their diet of fibrous plants requires regular hydration to facilitate digestion and maintain bodily functions. Zebras are water-dependent and need to drink daily, staying within a reasonable distance of water sources. While some species, like Grevy’s zebras, can survive for several days without water, they drink whenever possible. During dry seasons, zebras may travel considerable distances in search of available waterholes and greener pastures. Foals and lactating mares have a heightened need for daily access to water due to their physiological demands.