Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Zebra's stripes deter horse flies

Updated at 8:42 pm on 9 February 2012

Scientists claim to have come up with an explanation for why zebras have their characteristic black and white stripes

A study shows that the striped pattern made the animals much less attractive to some of their most irritating enemies - horse flies.

The scientists put sticky model horses - one white, one black and one zebra striped - into a fly-infested field, and collected the flies which had stuck to each of them.

They found that the model zebra attracted by far the fewest flies.

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