AboutJonathan Wright Expertise I can answer questions about wild mammals, as well as other wild animals. I can also answer questions on extinct animals and zoos.
PLEASE DON'T SEND ME ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT PETS. IF YOU ARE REALLY WORRIED, YOU SHOULD CONTACT A VETERINARIAN. PLEASE DO NOT ASSUME THAT UNPAID PEOPLE ON ALLEXPERTS ARE AVAILABLE 24 HOURS A DAY AND WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH ADVICE THE MOMENT YOUR ANIMAL GETS ILL. Find out how to look after a pet before you get it. It is unfair to keep an animal in inappropriate conditions and give it the wrong food. If you can't keep an animal in good conditions, please don't bring it into your home. I'm not a vet and I don't have any expertise in animal medicine and care. I don't agree with people taking animals out of the wild and then expecting other people to give free advice on how to look after them. It is cruel to take animals away from their parents, who are able to look after the babies and may look for them, while putting their other babies at risk. You may need a licence to look after some animals. You may be breaking the law by keeping wild animals; please check with a local wildlife organisation.
IF YOU FIND AN INJURED ANIMAL, PLEASE CONTACT A WILDLIFE VETERINARIAN OR CHARITY AND LET TRAINED STAFF LOOK AFTER THE ANIMAL. DO NOT TRY TO LOOK AFTER AN INJURED ANIMAL IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING.
Please do not remove eggs from nests. The mother birds will know the right temperature for the eggs and will not sit on them if the temperature is warm enough for them to develop naturally. It is illegal to remove eggs of some species and, unless you have an incubator or a broody hen, the egg may not develop. If you are allowed to touch the eggs, you can candle them (check details on websites) to see if the eggs are fertile. If the eggs are not fertile, they will not hatch.
I do not agree with fights between different animals. Please do not ask me questions about them.
Experience I have a zoology degree and have been interested in animals since I was two years old. I am a zoo volunteer at London Zoo. I have appeared on a BBC Radio Quiz, 'Wildbrain'.
Organizations World Wide Fund for Nature. Zoological Society of London. London Bat Group.
Publications Newsletters of London Zoo volunteers and the London Bat Group
Education/Credentials BSC degree in Zoology. 'A' levels in Zoology and Chemistry. 'O' Level in Biology.
Your answer concerning who can run faster a Zebra or a horse needs some clarification. The 43mph quoted as the fastest horse is an average speed over 2 furlongs. The Zebra may have a top speed of 40mph. The Racehorse can reach speeds of 45mph during a sprint race, and you have to consider that this is done carrying the weight of a jockey. The 43mph record that you quote is by an ordinary horse averaged over 2 furlongs, there are no graded stakes races for top class horses over such short distances, if there were i'm sure that the 43mph record would soon be broken, with top speeds around 46mph.
Kind regards
John
Answer Dear John
Thanks for your information. It is always good to update information, especially as I gave my original answer 2 years ago and based it with the information I had available at the time.
This stated that the fastest speed recorded for a racehorse is 43 m.p.h. (69 km.p.h) and the fastest speed recorded for a plains zebra is 40 m.p.h. (64 km.p.h.) I noted that far more work done on checking the speed of horses (especially racehorses) than there has on zebras and that I wouldn't be surprised if a zebra could run as fast as a racehorse. I also noted that, despite the breeding of racehorses, they weren't much faster than zebras.
Following your statements, I have looked into this a bit further. I still feel that far more work has been done on racehorses than on zebras and you could be right that racehorses could be much faster than zebras if there were no jockeys. I have seen a few races, where a jockey has been thrown by, or has fallen off, a horse, which has overtaken the other horses. Alternatively, some jockeys whip their horses to make them move faster. Several years ago, I went pony trekking in the Peak District in England. My pony had a tendency to feed from any grass it found, while my girlfriend at the time managed to get her pony to run much faster. I suspect that some horses win races because jockeys are goading them, rather than because they7 enjoy running. Similarly, I think that if a lion chased a zebra, that the zebra would run as quickly as possible. As people do not record most of these encounters, the maximum speeds of the zebra and lion could be higher than that mentioned in websites and books.
These figures are somewhat confusing, but confirm that the fastest recorded racehorses are faster than the fastest recorded zebras. Apart from the statements about the American quarter horse (81 km per hour) and the lower figures for zebras (56 km per hour), there isn't a lot of difference, although you do seem to be right that racehorses can reach 45 mph, while zebras reach 40 miles per hour. Some zebras have been tamed, but racing zebras haven't caught on, despite the film ‘Stripes' a few years ago. Until that happens, it seems that the recorded speeds for racehorses will continue to exceed those for zebras for some time to come.
