A new study found that zebra mothers play a big role in helping their young survive during long dry seasons. The research focused on plains zebras, a type of zebra that lives in Africa, and looked at how well young zebras survived when food and water were scarce.
Survival Challenges for Young Zebras
The study found that young zebras, especially those in their first few months of life, had a harder time surviving during dry seasons, with the length of the dry season have a big effect. The longer the dry season lasted, the fewer zebra foals survived.
Researchers also found that older juveniles and yearlings (zebras that are about a year old) survived better than the youngest ones, but their survival still went down when the dry season lasted longer.
Mothers Make a Difference
The study showed that zebra mothers, or mares, were key to helping their young survive. The survival chances of young zebras depended a lot on their mothers’ health and ability to care for them. Mothers that stayed with their young and provided protection and guidance helped them get through difficult times better than those without strong maternal care.
What This Means for Zebras
This research highlights how important mothers are in the animal kingdom. It also shows that changes in climate, such as longer dry seasons, could make survival harder for young zebras. Scientists believe that understanding how zebras survive in tough conditions can help in efforts to protect them and their environment.
This study gives us a deeper look at how animal families work together in nature. By studying zebras, we can learn more about how different species survive and adapt to changing environments.
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“Good moms: dependent young and their mothers cope better than others with longer dry season in plains zebras,” Thel et al. Oecologia (2025).
