Uncovering the mystery of why zebras have a striped pelage has been widely theorised. There are many answers why, however, this study aimed to determine the role that stripes have on social behaviour and cohesion of zebras. The data used in this study was collected at Addo Elephant National Park (AENP) in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The hypothesis has been supported by some studies that suggested stripes provide visual markers for social interactions such as grooming, thus enhancing the social bond between two individuals. This study aims to prove or disprove this hypothesis. AENP is home to plains zebras (Equus quagga) that have a large variety of stripe numbers as a result of a selective breeding programme that aimed to bring back the quagga (Equus quagga quagga) phenotype. I tested the role that striping plays in social interactions, nearest neighbour distances, group size and group leadership. The results cast doubt on the hypothesis that stripes provide visual markers or enhances social bonding as there is no relationship between striping, social behaviour and cohesion. The study also discovered that nearest neighbour distances were influenced by factors that were non-striped related such as age, sex and habitats. Results showed that males distanced themselves further away than females in their social groups. Also, juveniles remained closer to other group members than adults. In open grassland habitats individuals displayed greater nearest neighbour distances, whereas individuals remained very close together by waterholes. ANEP historically was home to the quagga and so selection may be favoured for plains zebra with the quagga phenotype in this area. With the wide variety of stripe numbers at ANEP, it still represents an ideal site to continue with this study on the mystery of stripes. Following this study, a greater emphasis should be placed on studying the non-social functions of stripes.