Answers: Zebra Stripes

So I will have a series of posts addressing the questions of the week.
The first question is:

"My questions is... is a zebra white with black stripes or black with white stripes??"


The zebra stripe phenomenon has always intrigued me, because I always have wondered how on earth such a conspicuous animal can continue to thrive. However, there has to be good reason for success. Nature isn't biased and it won't let a creature continue living just for aesthetic value. It actually turns out that the stripe pattern can deflect about 70% of the sun's rays helping the zebra fight the overpowering African heat (source: The International Museum of the Horse).
I have also been told that every single zebra has a unique stripe pattern and they can even tell one another apart because of this. The females with more curvature in their stripes have an advantage because it makes them more appealing to the males (this is completely a guess). There is also a theory that the stripes help the zebras confuse predators because they blend together when the zebras are in herds.
But onto the question. Are they white with black stripes or the other way around? Well, it used to be up in the air, but recently most experts are saying that zebras have both black skin and fur, and the white is added in due to a number of different factors, mostly a pigmentation deficiency. So zebras seem to be black with white stripes.
To be honest, my life is the same either way. But I must say the research was a lot of fun.