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
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