Every Monday I will be posting an image and quotation from One World, along with an informational Q&A that delves into the story behind the picture: how it was taken, what the circumstances were, and what the image says to me now. The following is the first of these interviews.

"No man is an island, entire of itself."
-- John Donne

Like fingerprints, the stripes of a zebra are unique. In a herd, which might number one hundred fifty animals, the mass of stripes confuses predators. Nevertheless, zebras are still the favorite food of lions and hyenas. Each adult stallion commands a harem of four to ten females, which he defends vigorously. Known for their nasty temperaments, zebras injure more zookeepers than any other animal. Cattle egrets follow large grazing animals, such as zebras, using them as "beaters" to stir up grasshoppers and other insects.

Q: This photograph, "Zebra and Cattle Egret", is the cover shot for your book. What made you choose it as the representative image for "One World"?

Michael: That photograph, for me, epitomized, or symbolized, the theme of "One World" -- the theme of two different species together in harmony.

That particular photograph was an exciting photograph to take because it was a beautiful afternoon and the zebra was in the sun, and the cattle egret started walking toward the zebra. As it got closer and closer my heart started pounding... and when it got very close, my heart almost leaped out of my chest, because I knew it was going to be a very exciting image.

Q: What is the relationship between these two animals?

Michael: The cattle egret and the zebra get along. It's not a strictly symbiotic relationship. Symbiotic suggests that both benefit from each other's presence. In this case, it's the cattle egret that benefits from the zebra's presence because the zebra stirs up insects in the grass, and the egret eats the insects.

Q: Why do you think the zebra allows this relationship to occur, since it gets nothing out of it?

Michael: That's a good question. If we can apply an anthropomorphic answer, we can guess that maybe the zebra just enjoys the cattle egret's company?

Q: What happened right after you took this photo?

Michael: The animals were together for maybe another moment. This particular photograph was taken before I had switched to a digital camera, and it illustrates one of the great advantages of the digital camera. That picture was taken in Zambia, and I didn't know until I came back to this country [the U.S.] if the picture was in focus, out of focus, underexposed or overexposed. If I'd had a digital camera at the time, I could have checked immediately and perhaps had a chance to take another image.