Zebra black and white at birth. Plains and mountain zebra foals are protected by their mothers, as well as the head stallion and the other mares in their group. Grévy's zebra foals have only their mother as a regular protector, since, as noted above, Grévy's zebra groups often disband after a few months. Attempts have been made to train zebras for riding, since they have better resistance than horses to African diseases. While occasionally successful, most of these attempts failed due to the zebra's more unpredictable nature and tendency to panic under stress. For this reason, zebra-mules or zebroids (crosses between
Zebra finch female zebra finch can distinguish its own eggs on the basis of odour. This method of distinction arises from the visual similarity between parasitic and non-parasitic eggs, and the cost associated with raising an egg other than one's own. When a bird is parasitized during a nesting attempt, it is less likely to be parasitized again during that season and, at the very least, during the next season (although this could be statistical noise). Young zebra finches fledge about 17 to 18 days after hatching. They feed themselves by around 35 days after hatching, although they are still socially dependent