Why are some animals black and white?
6 Minute English
BBC
4.5 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 5 March 2026
⏱️ 7 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
How many animals can you think of that are black and white? Zebras, penguins, orcas, snow leopards… there are loads! But have you ever wondered why these animals have developed such unique and striking appearances? Neil and Becca discuss this and teach you some new vocabulary.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:05.8 | Our podcast series, Office English, is back with weekly episodes to help you improve your English at work. |
| 0:13.0 | Learn useful phrases to boost your career in English, from setting goals to using small talk, |
| 0:19.1 | to apologising when things go wrong. |
| 0:21.8 | Follow the Learning English for Work podcast to listen or visit BBClearningEnglish.com. |
| 0:28.7 | Six Minute English from BBClearningEnglish.com. |
| 0:36.1 | Hello, this is Six Minute English from BBC Learning English. |
| 0:40.1 | I'm Neil. |
| 0:40.8 | And I'm Becca. |
| 0:42.4 | Neil, what do the following animals have in common? |
| 0:46.1 | Zebras, giant panders and magpies. |
| 0:49.5 | That's pretty easy, Becca. |
| 0:52.1 | They're all black and white. |
| 0:53.3 | Right. |
| 0:53.8 | But do you know why these animals evolved to be black and white? |
| 0:58.4 | I'm not so sure. Probably something about survival. |
| 1:03.2 | That's usually the answer, isn't it? |
| 1:05.0 | It is. |
| 1:05.7 | The animal world is full of colour, shiny blue peacocks and bright green frogs. |
| 1:10.7 | But in fact, hundreds of animal |
| 1:12.6 | species are black and white. In this episode, we'll try to find out why, while also learning some |
| 1:18.7 | useful new words and phrases. And remember, all the vocabulary from this episode is available |
... |
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