Why do zebras have black and white stripes?

Zebras are mammals of the family 'Equidae'. Zebras are African horses. They are in the same genus as the common horse, Equus caballus, and donkeys. There are three main species of zebra, Grevy's Zebra, the Plains Zebra, and the Mountain Zebra. Zebras are known for having many black and white stripes. Zebra stripes come in different patterns, unique to each individual. Several theories have been proposed for the function of these stripes.

The thermoregulatory hypothesis suggests that stripes help to control a zebra's body temperature. In 1971, biologist H. A. Baldwin noted that black stripes absorbed heat while the white ones reflected it. In 1990, zoologist Desmond Morris proposed that the stripes set up convection currents to cool the animal.

The fly protection hypothesis holds that the stripes deter biting flies. Horse flies, in particular, spread diseases that are lethal to equines such as African horse sickness, equine influenza, equine infectious anemia and trypanosomiasis. In addition, zebra hair is shorter or the same length as the mouthparts of horse flies. It was found that flies were less likely to land on black-and-white striped surfaces than uniformly coloured ones in 1930 by biologist R. Harris.