this post was submitted on 15 Feb 2026
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Science Memes

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[–] PieMePlenty@lemmy.world 24 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

There's some accounts throughout history, but humans generally leave them alone. They're aggressive creatures surrounded by even more aggressive killing machines. So it stands to reason that an animal in that environment would be pretty tough to tame.

[–] HejMedDig@feddit.dk 7 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

What you don't spot on that picture is the front "zebra" in the back, is a painted horse. Apparently that helped the zebras remain more calm

[–] PieMePlenty@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago

I actually figured he must have had a more experienced horse along with the zebras to sort of lead the carriage. I know its done with dog sleighs, but not sure about horses.

It has to do with social structures from what I read a while ago.

Horses have a hierarchical structure and zebras don't.

[–] bleistift2@sopuli.xyz 236 points 1 day ago (4 children)

What distinguishes zebras from horses is that zebras live in anonymous herds. That is, they like to clump together to ward off predators, but they don’t know or like each other. They are not a uniform group with a leader. Horses on the other hand do have authorities and followers among them. And humans can hijack the role of the leader.

CGPGrey: The Real Reason We Don’t Ride Zebras (6:23)

[–] fossilesque@mander.xyz 15 points 19 hours ago (1 children)
[–] LH0ezVT@sh.itjust.works 4 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Just wait until we have overturn the fascist system, then you'll be first against the wall!

[–] fossilesque@mander.xyz 4 points 7 hours ago
[–] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 127 points 1 day ago (1 children)

zebras live in anonymous herds. That is, they like to clump together to ward off predators, but they don’t know or like each other.

Zebra's don't like anyone, and they're not afraid to show it. Repeatedly.

[–] M137@lemmy.world 5 points 4 hours ago

And donkeys like only one person and will absolutely fuck up anyone or anything that tries to hurt that person or the donkey itself.

[–] Skullgrid@lemmy.world 29 points 1 day ago (2 children)

What distinguishes zebras from horses is that zebras live in anonymous herds.

says a lot about 4chan, the penny arcade GIFT theory, etc

[–] Sundiata@lemmy.world 2 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago) (1 children)

4chan blocks commenting with vpn, and /pol/ is a federal honeypot.

not so anonymous

[–] Skullgrid@lemmy.world 1 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

yes, but that's not shown to other users.

[–] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 50 points 1 day ago (1 children)

With how Facebook forces real names, the idea that being anonymous has any influence where or not someone is a fuckwad had been debunked.

[–] AbsolutelyNotAVelociraptor@piefed.social 45 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It's not the anonimity that makes people fuckwads. It's the lack of immediate consequences. A fuckwad won't get a punch in the face for what they say on facebook, hence they feel they can say anything and be a fuckwad.

[–] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 35 points 1 day ago

"Social media made y'all way too comfortable with disrespecting people and not getting punched in the face for it", Mike Tyson

Regardless of how you feel about Tyson, Truth is Truth.

[–] stenAanden@feddit.dk 21 points 1 day ago* (last edited 14 hours ago) (2 children)

This makes me wonder... How much of what he says is just conjecture? Do we ACTUALLY know with good certainty that zebras can't be domesticated due to their nature? Or is it just a hypothesis/theory that has reached widespread popularity?

I have heard that zebras (along with other African animals) can't be domesticated because they have evolved to live among humans, when we were still man-apes. But that maybe that's just conjecture too.

Note how he have no sources in his video or description. And his comparison to chickens, cows, sheep and cats don't seem to make much sense. The relation between humans and chickens/cows/sheep is markedly different from that of horses. Do wild fowl really have family structures? Cats don't yet they are still docile among humans.

Edit: even if we really can't do we know the reason why?

[–] cattywampas@lemmy.world 17 points 1 day ago (7 children)

Yes, people have tried to domesticate zebras before and they're just too ornery.

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[–] BigBenis@lemmy.world 77 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

The Cow says: Moo!

The Horse says: Neigh!

The Zebra says: I ain't nobody's bitch!

[–] kenji1nonly@lemmy.world 5 points 20 hours ago (2 children)

Jet Li says: You, are mine.

[–] Janx@piefed.social 2 points 9 hours ago

Is this... a The One reference!? I didn't think anyone else watched or cared about that movie!

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[–] X@piefed.world 46 points 1 day ago (1 children)

“Motherfucker, do you see the way I look?! Shit ain’t for the insta, that’s for sure. I’m quite visible to you so you have a long enough time to be getting far the fuck away from me.”

[–] underisk@lemmy.ml 17 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I thought the stripes were actually camouflage and they’re just monochromatic because the things they’re hiding from have poor color vision.

[–] bleistift2@sopuli.xyz 32 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Latest theory I heard was:

A 2014 study found a correlation between striping and overlap with horse and tsetse fly populations and activity. Other studies have found that zebras are rarely targeted by these insect species. Caro and colleagues (2019) studied captive zebras and horses and observed that neither could deter flies from a distance, but zebra stripes kept flies from landing, both on zebras and horses dressed in zebra print coats. […] White or light stripes painted on dark bodies have also been found to reduce fly irritations in both cattle and humans.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebra

[–] pulsey@feddit.org 17 points 22 hours ago

brb getting a full body tattoo

[–] chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com 20 points 1 day ago

The truth is we don't actually know because the zebras don't want us to:

So, the question why zebras have stripes have proven very difficult and not without risks – Stephen Cobb has been bitten in the arm and admitted to hospital twice. Despite the extra vigour of recent work, the answer remains inconclusive.

[–] SaharaMaleikuhm@feddit.org 20 points 23 hours ago (4 children)

Okay, but what about the moose?

[–] Agent641@lemmy.world 70 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

Moose can't ride zebras either

[–] ivanafterall@lemmy.world 24 points 21 hours ago

Brother, a moose can ride whatever it damn well pleases. But I'd rather not get into the personal stuff, if you don't mind.

[–] atomicorange@lemmy.world 14 points 22 hours ago

Møøse bites kan be pretti nasti

My grandmother knew a guy who raised a couple moose and used them to plow his fields

[–] TomMasz@piefed.social 62 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Horse-shaped, but definitely not a horse.

[–] BigDanishGuy@sh.itjust.works 19 points 1 day ago

Punk horse, running IDK chimpanzee firmware?

[–] stylusmobilus@aussie.zone 9 points 1 day ago

Yeah they survive for a reason. They’re very tough.

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