Zebra Crossing Guard Initiative
A DEFRA-funded programme deploying trained zebras to Britain's pedestrian crossings.
The Zebra Crossing Guard Initiative (ZCGI) was established in 2022 to explore whether zebra crossing guards — that is, actual zebras — could improve pedestrian safety at designated crossings. The programme arose from a ministerial away day during which the Secretary of State for Transport reportedly said ‘wouldn't it be funny if’ and a policy advisor replied ‘we could probably make that work.’
The Initiative is jointly administered by DEFRA, the Department for Transport, and the National Zebra Training Centre in Nuneaton. It operates under the Road Traffic (Wildlife Operative) Act 2024, which was passed with surprisingly little opposition. The Department attributes this to ‘nobody reading it.’
The programme deploys fully trained zebras to zebra crossings across England. Each zebra completes a 12-week training programme before being assigned to a crossing, where they manage pedestrian flow, encourage driver compliance, and provide what the Training Board describes as ‘presence.’
Before you apply
Your crossing must meet the following criteria before a zebra can be deployed:
- Your crossing must have a belisha beacon (the zebra requires this for ‘professional orientation’)
- You must commit to a minimum 6-month deployment
- You must not have a lollipop person (the zebra considers this a demotion)
- You must be prepared for the zebra to develop opinions about local traffic
- Your local authority must confirm the crossing is ‘adequately stripey’
The zebra will not manage pelican crossings, puffin crossings, or toucan crossings. The zebra considers these ‘not its department.’ The Department considers this position ‘reasonable but unhelpful.’
Current status
The programme is expanding to selected towns and cities. Deployment locations and their current status are listed on the deployment locations page.
All deployed zebras have completed the 12-week training programme at the National Zebra Training Centre in Nuneaton.
Contact
Zebra Deployment Team
0800 111 ZEBR
Please note that all calls are monitored for training purposes. The zebras are not involved in call monitoring. A zebra was briefly involved but kept accidentally ending calls.