The Zebra is one of those quintessential cast members of African wildlife. It’s about as recognizable as the lion and giraffe, and those stripes are probably to blame. There’s no doubt about how much we love zebra stripes. How many handbags, pants, shirts and whatnot have you seen with Zebra stripes? A lot, probably.

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But do the stripes really make the Zebra? Well, that’s a question most people skip. But it’s a good question – after all, skin colors and patterns are all in the genes. This Zebra foal from Kenya is very much a Zebra, even if he doesn’t look the part.

Meet Tira, the Zebra without Zebra stripes.

That’s the name that photographer Frank Liu gave him when the spotted foal caught his eye. Frank couldn’t believe the foal was a Zebra, and initially assumed it was a different species altogether.

But there were no eye tricks or illusions here. Tira was as real as the rest of his kind. He just had a little thing called pseudomelanism that gives him his unconventional, not very Zebra-ey coat pattern.

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Geneticist Greg Barsh lent his expertise on Tira’s case. It’s all in the melanocytes.

“There are a variety of mutations that can disturb the process of melanin synthesis, and in all of those disorders, the melanocytes are believed to be normally distributed, but the melanin they make is abnormal.”

Science still isn’t completely sure what Zebras evolved their stripes for. However, don’t take that to mean they’re completely clueless either.

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Though far from a case settled, there’s a fair amount of evidence building up that Zebra stripes evolved to deter Horse flies, which are nasty pests that spread several diseases lethal to horse populations.

So although Tira might look pretty, he’s a prime target for those pesky flies.

That’s also assuming other worse things don’t get to him first.

Mutations like albinism, melanism and pseudomelanism are quite the sight to us, but are a huge inconvenience for the animals that have them. Having melanism in the wild, for example, pretty much yells “Hey, predators, look at me!”. Tira’s pseudomelanism, in that case, is also like a big “Bite here” sign for horseflies.

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Tira has been brought into a crazy, unpredictable world. Most of all, he probably has no idea how unique he is. As far as he knows, he’s still just a Zebra.

Eat, sleep and follow mom are the only things he worries about.

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Tira is also a shining example of the wonders of genetics. With a big enough population, there’s bound to be tons of genes. Tons of genes mean millions of combinations, and millions of combinations means that, sooner or later, you’re bound to get some pretty unique looking members of the herd.

And here’s hoping that herd protects him.

With his odd-one-out status, he needs all the protection he can get. Tira isn’t even the first odd-colored Zebra to have been born. Another one was born in the Okavango Delta in 2014, shortly before it met its unfortunate fate at the hands of some Hyenas.

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Let’s appreciate Franklin Liu’s work, since we might’ve never learned about Tira if he didn’t take the time to photograph the unique foal in the wild.

Tira is quite the interesting case, and something at least some of your friends and family might delight in learning about. So navigate over to that share button below and share it with them!

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Source: [National Geographic, Frankin Liu Photography, Nature Communications]