Zebras are herbivores, meaning their diet consists entirely of plant matter. Water plays an equally important role for their survival in the diverse African landscapes. Understanding their feeding and drinking habits provides insight into their adaptation to these environments.
The Zebra’s Diet: What They Eat
Zebras are primarily grazers. They consume a wide variety of grass types, using their strong front incisors to clip the blades close to the ground. Their back teeth then crush and grind the fibrous plant material efficiently. Zebras can spend many hours each day grazing to obtain sufficient nutrients from their diet.
Plains zebras, the most common species, often prefer shorter, green grasses like red oat grass, Bermuda grass, and star grass when available. However, they are adaptable and can consume tougher, coarser grasses that other herbivores might avoid. Zebras act as “pioneer grazers,” preparing the land for other animals by consuming taller, sturdier plants.
During dry seasons or when grasses become scarce, zebras broaden their diet to include other plant matter. They may supplement their intake with leaves, shoots, bark, and roots. For instance, they might eat leaves from acacia, mopane, and baobab trees, or strip bark from trees during periods of drought. This dietary flexibility allows them to survive in challenging conditions.
Hydration Habits: How Zebras Drink
Zebras generally need to drink daily, particularly in hot climates. They seek out various natural water sources such as rivers, lakes, and waterholes. A zebra can consume a significant amount of water in one sitting, up to one gallon (approximately 3.8 liters).
Approach to water sources is often cautious due to the presence of predators like lions and hyenas. Zebras tend to graze near water sources to minimize the distance they must travel for hydration. In dry riverbeds, some zebra species, like Grevy’s and mountain zebras, have developed the ability to dig for subsurface water, sometimes reaching depths of up to one meter.
While zebras generally require daily water, certain species, such as Grevy’s zebras, can endure without water for up to five days. During prolonged dry seasons, zebras may undertake extensive migrations, traveling hundreds of miles in search of both food and water. This movement ensures their access to vital resources across their habitat.
Adaptations and Dietary Variations
Zebras possess a specialized dental structure for their fibrous diet. They have strong incisors for cropping grasses and robust, high-crowned molars with prominent ridges for grinding tough plant material. These molars are designed to withstand the abrasive nature of grasses and continue to grow throughout the zebra’s life to compensate for wear.
Zebras are hindgut fermenters, differing from ruminants like cattle. Their digestive system processes coarse forage in their cecum and colon, where microorganisms break down plant fibers. While this method is less efficient at nutrient extraction than rumination, zebras compensate by consuming greater volumes of food at a faster rate. This allows them to utilize low-quality grasses indigestible for other animals.
Dietary intake can vary among the three zebra species—Plains, Grevy’s, and Mountain zebras—reflecting their distinct habitats and available vegetation. Plains zebras generally prefer shorter, greener grasses, while Grevy’s and Mountain zebras can subsist on coarser, tougher grasses. Seasonal changes influence their diet; during wet seasons, they graze on abundant grasses, but in dry periods, they shift to browsing on leaves, shoots, and bark.