For some, being the black sheep in the family is simply an honor. It’s good to have a unique way of thinking, behavior than the rest of the family. But what would happen when the same thing happens with animals?

Meet Tira. This baby zebra has got dots instead of stripes. Because of the unique pattern this baby got, tourism has boosted in the Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya.

Zebra’s stripes are unique as our fingerprints. But this odd coloration of Tira has gained the attention in the Marai Masa. However, the same type of unique ponies are reported from Botswana’s Okavango Delta.

According to the biologist R.L who studies the evolution of zebra stripes in the University of California, Tira and the other Botswana ponies, are suffering from a rare genetic mutation called pseudocytosis which causes irregularities in the stripe patterns.

Melanocytes are specialized cells which helps the mammals to create pigment melanin. The pigments, red, black, brown or yellow determines the skin or the hair color of the mammals.

Do you know that a shaved zebra is completely black in color? But when it comes to Barsh, he believes that even though they have melanocytes, they are not properly manifested as stripes.