Zebra herbs, twigs, leaves and bark. Their digestive systems allow them to subsist on diets of lower nutritional quality than that necessary for other herbivores. Female zebras mature earlier than the males, and a mare may have her first foal by the age of three. Males are not able to breed until the age of five or six. Mares may give birth to one foal every twelve months. She nurses the foal for up to a year. Like horses, zebras are able to stand, walk and suckle shortly after they are born. A zebra foal is brown and white instead of
HMS Zebra (1815) invasion of Syria in what became known as the Oriental Crisis of 1840 or the Syrian War, "Zebra" served with the naval force in the Eastern Mediterranean under Charles Napier. On 23 February 1840, Commander James John Stopford assumed command. On 5 May 1840, "Zebra" was in Malta for repairs. "En route" for Corfu, she had knocked off part of her false keel at Cape Blanco. On 19 July "Zebra" joined the first rate , the third rate , and the corvette in sailing for the Syrian coast. By 8 September, "Zebra" had sailed with Admiral Sir Robert Stopford's fleet