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[-] bleistift2@sopuli.xyz 40 points 3 weeks ago

Latest theory I heard was:

A 2014 study found a correlation between striping and overlap with horse and tsetse fly populations and activity. Other studies have found that zebras are rarely targeted by these insect species. Caro and colleagues (2019) studied captive zebras and horses and observed that neither could deter flies from a distance, but zebra stripes kept flies from landing, both on zebras and horses dressed in zebra print coats. [โ€ฆ] White or light stripes painted on dark bodies have also been found to reduce fly irritations in both cattle and humans.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebra

[-] pulsey@feddit.org 19 points 3 weeks ago

brb getting a full body tattoo

[-] crater2150@feddit.org 1 points 3 weeks ago

White or light stripes painted on dark bodies have also been found to reduce fly irritations in both cattle and humans.

A study about painting stripes on cattle won an Ig-Nobel Price in 2025: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crkjzxrrkd5o (article has a photo of a painted cow)

this post was submitted on 15 Feb 2026
1127 points (99.7% liked)

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