Zebra Migration: A Study of Life Cycle, Patterns, and Challenges

This report provides a summary of zebra migration, focusing on the animal's life cycle, migration patterns, and the environmental factors that influence their behavior. Zebras can live up to 30 years and exhibit the ability to see and hear from birth. Migration is primarily driven by the search for food and water, particularly in dry areas like Etosha National Park in Namibia, where zebras migrate east during the dry season and return west with the onset of the rainy season. The report details the time spent by zebras on grass and shrubs during wet and dry seasons and highlights their ability to migrate long distances, such as the 500km route between Namibia and Botswana. The study mentions the use of VHF and GPS tracking collars to monitor zebra movements. The report also addresses challenges such as food and water shortages, as well as predation, faced during migration. Furthermore, the report references a case study in Botswana using GBS, NVDI, and MODIS to quantify vegetation and understand the influence of weather patterns on zebra migration, emphasizing the importance of satellite imagery and animal tracking for studying animal behavior and environmental impacts.

GEOGRAPHY
By Name
Course
Instructor
Institution
Location
Date

It is important to have knowledge of the life cycle of a zebra for us to comprehensively
understand the life of a zebra. The research work has indicated that zebra can live up to 30 years
in the wilderness. Right from birth, this particular animal has the ability to hear and see. It is the
primary role of the mothers to have their young ones guided in the first few weeks after their
birth. The migration of zebra is normally contributed to the search for food and water. This kind
of migration pattern is evident among those zebras living in the dry areas (McGraw, Gregory,
and Parker & Adkins 2015)
There are several factors that result in the migration of zebra from one location to another. In
Namibia for example at the central region of Etosha National Park, the migration of most of the
zebra is common during the dry seasons. During this period, most Zebra migrate to the east only
to return to the west at the onset on the rainy season. The migrating Zebra spend 65% of their
time in the grass while 301% on shrubs during the wet seasons. During the dry season, this kind
of pattern changes with 30% of the time is spent on grass and a similar percentage of time being
spent on shrubs.
These creatures have the ability to migrate over long distances. For example, the migration route
that is being used by zebra between Namibia and Botswana is normally approximated to be
500kilometres. This has been considered to be the longest terrestrial wildlife migration. Their
migration capability is controlled by their memory. Zebra monitoring process is normally done
by the use of at least two types of collars. One of the collars is known as Slandered VHF collars.
This type of collar uses high frequency as abbreviated (VHF). The second type of tracking
collars for zebra is called GBS tracking collars. This collar is normally fitted around the neck of
the zebra and it has the ability to give the exact location of the animal (Caro, Izzo, and Reiner
Walker & Stankowich 2014).

There are several problems that are faced by the zebra during their migration. Some of these
challenges normally result in death. Some of the commonly faced problems by zebra during their
migration include a shortage of food, water and being killed by the wild animals.
In order to highlight more information in regard to the behavior of this particular creature, there
was a study carried out in Botswana between Makgadikgadi and the Okavango Delta in the
northwest. There was the use of GBS, NVDI, and MODIS by the researchers during this case
study. The NVDI was basically used in the quantification of the vegetation through measurement
of the variation in red light and infrared light. In order to describe effectively the spatiotemporal
variability in the production of vegetation, MODIS was used. As illustrated in the figure below,
there is a great influence by weather pattern on the migration of zebra. In the second figure is an
illustration of the daily rainfall in Makgadikgadi recorded by the use of GBS collars.
It is therefore very persuasive to conclude that the models developed by the satellite images with
the tracking mechanism of animals are very important as far as the study of the movement of
zebra is concerned. These models have assisted in the understanding of how the changes in the
environment affect the behavior and migration pattern of animals including zebra. Also, the
application of these models that have been developed by spatiotemporal environmental data
allows for revealing of the orientation, decision rules and mechanisms of navigation utilized
during the migration exercise.

References
Caro, T., Izzo, A., Reiner Jr, R. C., Walker, H., & Stankowich, T. (2014). The function of zebra
stripes. Nature Communications, 5, 3535.
McGraw, K. J., Gregory, A. J., Parker, R. S., & Adkins-Regan, E. (2015). Diet, plasma
carotenoids, and sexual coloration in the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata).