Rubs is the only zebra at Kaleidoscope Desert Sanctuary, and easily one of the most photographed residents in the high desert. Living alongside him has taught us a lot about what zebras are really like, and how different they are from the horses they resemble. First, his story.
How Rubs Came Home
Rubs was rescued from a hunting safari park in Texas. When he was about a year old, videos of a large man riding him around a pen spread online, and people all over the country reached out to us asking for help. We brought him home to Morongo Valley, where he will live out the rest of his life.
Today he spends his days with his two mini donkey girlfriends (they love each other first and him second), the mini horses Horse With No Name and THOT, and a rotating cast of dogs. His favorite places to drink are the natural pool and his favorite fountain, and he can never have enough carrots or bananas. He occasionally shares the bananas with Meep, our rescued Italian Greyhound. He also seems fairly sure he runs the place.
1. No Two Zebras Have the Same Stripes
A zebra’s stripe pattern is unique to that animal, much like a fingerprint. Once you spend time with Rubs, you start to recognize him by the swirl of stripes on his rump before you ever see his face.
2. They Are Black With White Stripes
Under the coat, zebra skin is dark. That is why most scientists describe zebras as black animals with white stripes, not the other way around.
3. The Stripes Probably Keep Flies Away
Why stripes at all? The leading explanation from field studies is biting flies: flies have trouble landing on a striped surface, so stripes may help zebras avoid bites and the diseases flies carry. Other theories, like confusing predators or staying cool, are still debated.
4. There Are Three Species
The plains zebra is the one most people picture. The mountain zebra lives in the rugged hills of southern Africa, and the Grévy’s zebra, the largest, with thin, tightly packed stripes, is endangered.
5. They Are Cousins of Horses and Donkeys
Zebras belong to the same family as horses and donkeys. Unlike their cousins, though, zebras were never domesticated, and they keep a wild streak no matter how gentle they seem.
6. So, Can You Ride a Zebra?
No, and Rubs is the reason we feel strongly about it. A zebra’s back is not built to carry a rider the way a horse’s is, and riding one can leave it lame. Even if it were possible, the better question is why. At the sanctuary, Rubs is admired from the ground, on his own terms.
7. They Are Fast
A plains zebra can gallop at around 40 miles an hour in short bursts, and quick, zigzag turns help them escape lions and hyenas in the wild.
8. They Need Company
Zebras are herd animals and do not do well alone. Rubs has no other zebras here, so the mini donkeys and mini horses are his herd. He shares his hay with them, and the little group tends to move around the grounds together.
9. Foals Learn Their Mother’s Stripes
A zebra foal can stand within about an hour of being born. For the first few days the mother keeps it close and apart from the herd, which is thought to help the foal learn her stripe pattern, her voice and her smell.
10. A Zebra Is a Long Commitment
Zebras can live around 25 years in the wild and longer in good care. That is a long time to provide space, a herd and specialized care, and it is why a sanctuary, not a ride or a roadside attraction, is the right home for an animal like Rubs.
Meet Rubs
Kaleidoscope Desert Sanctuary is a 7.5-acre art and animal rescue and a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit in Morongo Valley, about 15 minutes from Joshua Tree and 20 from Palm Springs. Rubs lives here with over 100 other rescued residents. The Sanctuary Tour runs daily at 10 AM, plus 12 PM on Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays, about 90 minutes for $65. Visits are 18 and up. Book at kaleidoscopedesert.com/visit.
You can also become Rubs’s Fairy Godparent from $30 a month at kaleidoscopedesert.com/sponsor. Your support goes straight to his feed, vet care and treats.
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