45 
CH. II] ZEBRAS AND GAZELLES 
which it has also been somewhat the fashion of recent 
years to hold up as an example of 44 protective colora¬ 
tion.” As a matter of fact, the zebra’s coloration is 
not protective at all; on the contrary, it is exceedingly 
conspicuous, and under the actual conditions of the 
zebra’s life, probably never hides it from its foes; the 
instances to the contrary being due to conditions so 
exceptional that they may be disregarded. If any man 
seriously regards the zebra’s coloration as 44 protective,” 
let him try the experiment of wearing a hunting-suit of 
the zebra pattern ; he will speedily be undeceived. 
The zebra is peculiarly a beast of the open plains, and 
makes no effort ever to hide from the observation of its 
foes. It is occasionally found in open forest, and may 
there now and then escape observation simply as any 
animal of any colour—a dun hartebeest or a nearly 
black bushbuck—may escape observation. At a dis¬ 
tance of over a few hundred yards the zebra’s colora¬ 
tion ceases to be conspicuous simply because the 
distance has caused it to lose all its distinctive character 
—that is, all the quality which could possibly make it 
protective. Near by it is always very conspicuous, and 
if the conditions are such that any animal can be seen at 
all, a zebra will catch the eye much more quickly than 
a Grant’s gazelle, for instance. These gazelles, by the 
way, although much less conspicuously coloured than 
the zebra, bear when young, and the females even when 
adult, the dark side stripe which characterizes all sexes and 
ages of the smaller gazelle, the 44 tommy it is a very 
conspicuous marking, quite inexplicable on any theory 
of protective coloration. The truth is that no game of 
the plains is helped in any way by its coloration in 
evading its foes, and none seeks to escape the vision of 
its foes. The larger game animals of the plains are 
