Zebra Flehmen - Calling all Ladies

A Burchell's Zebra stallion exposes his pearly whites in a natural process called flehmen.

Flehmen is a German word which describes the action of an animal analyzing the scent signal of a female (if she is receptive or not). Although this stallion is photograph alone, he did "laugh" (flehmen) only after visiting a few mares nearby.

It is a hilarious act, that is rather often seen within many different species of animals.

Zebra stallions can be very cruel too. Once a dominant stallion is beaten in a fight for dominance over a herd, he will most likely kill all stallion foals. So as to "wipe" the genes of his defeated competitor from the earth, forcing the mares into ovulating sooner than usual. Thus he will be able to reproduce his own offspring ensuring the survival and future existence of his own genes.

What the Animal Kingdom tells us on a regular basis is this : Survival of the fittest, sex is very normal and freedom is purely fantastic !!!