The drivers behind the unique colouration of the pelage in the three extant species of zebra is a much studied but unsolved question in evolutionary biology. This study aimed to test the ectoparasite hypothesis, which suggests that striping in the pelage of zebras is an evolutionary response to ectoparasitic burdens, specifically biting flies, because the vision system of biting flies is inhibited by such stripes. A population of plains zebra (Equus quagga burchelli) in Addo Elephant National Park, in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa were the focus of this study. This population is unique in its reintroductions from a selective breeding program for the near stripeless quagga phenotype creating a large variation in the degree of striping in Addo’s zebras. Behavioural observations were employed as a proxy of the ectoparasitic burdens on each animal, a method previously used in the study of plains zebra and other equids. These observations were combined with environmental data and detailed stripe counts for each individual. Whilst stripe counts did not predict comfort behaviour (behaviours associated with the removal or deterrence of ectoparasites), environmental variables, like wind speed, temperature, and humidity, did. This result suggests that previous research citing behavioural intensity as a proxy for ectoparasite loads may require further support from robust invertebrate sampling coinciding with the collection of behavioural data.