Peeved Male Zebra Tries to Attack Foal While Mother Tries to Stop the Madness

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Whilst this clip is upsetting to watch, it is also a fascinating insight into the behavior of zebras. An adult male zebra is highly aggressive toward a foal. The larger animal chases the baby around, including through some water. He nips at the foal’s back and pushes it into the dirt. At the same time, the mother zebra is desperately trying to place her body in between the male and her foal. Her instinct is to protect her baby even if it means putting herself in danger. As the clip at the bottom of the page shows, nature can be brutal. This scene is upsetting for the humans who are witnessing it.

The plains zebra (Equus quagga) is the most widely distributed of all the wild equids. They are found in eastern and southern Africa in regions east of the River Nile. The highest numbers are found in Kenya and Tanzania although this clip was filmed in Etosha National Park in Namibia where the subspecies E. q. burchellii is most often found.

In terms of habitat, they are very adaptable and are happy in several environments. They like to live on a grassland or grassland that is mixed with bushland or woodland. You do not find them in rainforests, deserts, or permanent wetlands. Nevertheless, water is essential for their well-being and you will rarely find them more than seven miles away from a water source.

©Zachary Zirlin/Shutterstock.com

Sadly, this behavior has been recorded before. It is a phenomenon called infanticide and usually involves an adult male of a species killing offspring that have been fathered by another male. The new male views the foals as competition and wants to get rid of them so that he can mate with a female. It is important to him that he can father the next generation of zebras.

A dominant zebra male can have as many as six females and their foals in his group. Stallions will fight each other for mating rights to females and commonly steal females from each other. For the male zebra, the foal is an inconvenience that needs to be removed!

The mother, however, has already invested a lot of effort into raising this foal and therefore protects it. You don’t get to find out whether the mom was successful in this particular scenario.

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