In South Africa within the Great Karoo, a half-striped zebra named Khumba is born into an insular isolated herd of all-striped zebras where he's raised by his sick mother Lungisa and his father & the herd's leader, Seko.

Rumors that the strange foal is cursed spread and before long he is blamed for the drought that sets into the Great Karoo. As he matures, Khumba is picked on and remains ostracized by most of the herd with the exception of Tombi, a young female zebra friend close in age - whom Khumba has a crush on - and uncomfortable in the herd due to her tomboyish manners.