Zebra Stripes Cause Confusion for Scientists

Are zebras endagered?

• There are three species of zebra. These are the plains zebra, Grevy’s zebra and the mountain zebra.

• Of the three species, the Grevy’s zebra is the most endangered, listed as endangered with only around 2000 left in the wild.

Zebras continue to pose an interesting problem... why do they have stripes? Surely the black and white pattern makes them stand out so much that it makes them easier prey?

One popular theory is something called ‘motion dazzle’. It’s the idea that the stripes might actually confuse predators.

If a lion were to run at a herd of zebras, they’d normally scatter. All those stripes moving in different directions might ‘dazzle’ the lion making it harder for it to catch a zebra.

However, scientists at the University of Exeter think they’ve proved this theory wrong by using a simple video game.

The game, called Dazzle Bug, required players to tap on quick-moving rectangles - ‘bugs’. Some bugs had patterns and some didn’t. 
 

The scientists found that the dull and unremarkable bugs were harder to ‘catch’.

They had a lot of help in collecting the data. The game was played by over 77,000 visitors to the Eden Project in Cornwall, England.

Dr Anna Hughes led the study. She said, “Our findings provide the clearest evidence to date against the motion dazzle hypothesis.”

The team didn’t suggest a different theory as to why zebras have stripes, and of course, no lions were invited to play the game.

So, maybe a zebra’s stripes cause motion dazzle, but maybe they don’t.

Who knows if we’ll ever solve the mystery of why a zebra has its stripes?

R - What is the name of the game that visitors played?

I - What does the term motion dazzle mean?

C - What could an alternative headline be?