Cultural significance depicting a zebra With their distinctive black-and-white stripes, zebras are among the most recognizable mammals. They have been associated with beauty and grace, with naturalist
Thomas Pennant describing them in 1781 as "the most elegant of quadrupeds". Zebras have been popular in photography, with some wildlife photographers describing them as the most photogenic animal. They have become staples in children's stories and wildlife-themed art, such as depictions of
Noah's Ark. In children's
alphabet books, the animals are often used to represent the letter 'Z'. Zebra stripe patterns are popularly used for body paintings, dress, furniture and architecture. Zebras have been featured in
African art and
culture for millennia. They are depicted in
rock art in Southern Africa dating from 28,000 to 20,000 years ago, though less often than antelope species like
eland. How the zebra got its stripes has been the subject of
folk tales, some of which involve it being scorched by fire. The
Maasai proverb "a man without culture is like a zebra without stripes" has become popular in Africa. The
San people connected zebra stripes with water, rain and lightning, and
water spirits were conceived of having these markings. For the
Shona people, the zebra is a
totem animal and is glorified in a poem as an "iridescent and glittering creature". Its stripes have symbolised the union of male and female and at the ruined city of
Great Zimbabwe, zebra stripes decorate what is believed to be a
domba, a school meant to prepare girls for adulthood. In the
Shona language, the name
madhuve means "woman/women of the zebra totem" and is a name for girls in
Zimbabwe. The plains zebra is the
national animal of Botswana and zebras have been depicted on stamps during
colonial and post-colonial Africa. For people of the
African diaspora, the zebra represented the politics of race and identity, being both black and white. In cultures outside of its range, the zebra has been thought of as a more exotic alternative to the horse; the comic book character
Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, is depicted riding a zebra and explorer
Osa Johnson was photographed riding one. The film
Racing Stripes features a captive zebra ostracised from the horses and ends up being ridden by a rebellious girl. Zebras have been featured as characters in animated films like
Khumba,
The Lion King and the
Madagascar films and television series such as
Zou. Zebras have been popular subjects for
abstract,
modernist and
surrealist artists. Such art includes
Christopher Wood's
Zebra and Parachute,
Lucian Freud's ''The Painter's Room
and Quince on a Blue Table'' and the various paintings of
Mary Fedden and
Sidney Nolan.
Victor Vasarely depicted zebras as black and white lines and connected in a
jigsaw puzzle fashion.
Carel Weight's
Escape of the Zebra from the Zoo during an Air Raid was based on a real life incident of a zebra escaping during
the bombing of London Zoo and consists of four comic book-like panels. Zebras have lent themselves to products and advertisements, including for 'Zebra Grate Polish' cleaning supplies by British manufacturer
Reckitt and Sons and Japanese pen manufacturer
Zebra Co., Ltd. Captivity . A portrait of
Queen Charlotte's zebra Zebras have been kept in captivity since at least the
Roman Empire. In later times, captive zebras have been shipped around the world, often for diplomatic reasons. In 1261, Sultan
Baibars of
Egypt established an embassy with
Alfonso X of Castile and sent a zebra and other exotic animals as gifts. In 1417, a zebra was gifted to the Chinese people by Somalia and displayed before the
Yongle Emperor. The fourth
Mughal emperor
Jahangir received a zebra from Ethiopia in 1620 and
Ustad Mansur made a painting of it. In the 1670s,
Ethiopian Emperor Yohannes I exported two zebras to the Dutch governor of
Jakarta. These animals would eventually be given by the Dutch to the
Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan. When
Queen Charlotte received a zebra as a wedding gift in 1762, the animal became a source of fascination for the people of Britain. Many flocked to see it at its
paddock at
Buckingham Palace. It soon became the subject of humour and satire, being referred to as "The Queen's Ass", and was the subject of an oil painting by
George Stubbs in 1763. The zebra also gained a reputation for being ill-tempered and kicked at visitors. In 1882, Ethiopia sent a zebra to French president
Jules Grévy, and the species it belonged to was named in his honour. However, zebras have been
trained throughout history. In Rome, zebras are recorded to have pulled chariots during
amphitheatre games starting in the reign of
Caracalla (198 to 217 AD). In the late 19th century, the zoologist
Walter Rothschild trained some zebras to draw a carriage in England, which he drove to Buckingham Palace to demonstrate that it can be done. However, he did not ride on them knowing that they were too small and aggressive. In the early 20th century,
German colonial officers in East Africa tried to use zebras for both driving and riding, with limited success. ==Conservation==