Edward Summers, age 16, of Barre, Vt., for his question:

DO ZEBRAS HAVE LIGHT STRIPES OR DARK STRIPES?

Zebras are horselike animals that are found living wild in Africa. They differ from all other members of the horse family because of their startling color pattern.

The animal has a whitish background color and arranged over it in exact designs are dramatic stripes in either black or dark brown. At first glance it appears as if the stripes are the light color, but this is not the case.

A zebra's stripes are parallel and run all over the animal's body meeting diagonally down the sides of the head. The lines may appear even on the zebra's long ears, short thick mane and down its tail to the tuft of hair on the end.

The lines on the zebra's body help to hide the animal from its enemies. Its chief foe is the lion.

Zebras are grazing animals. They live in small bands, each of which is led by a stallion. Zebras are savage fighters and they are difficult to tame and train to work.