Zonkey: Zebra breeds with Donkey give birth to Zonkey at Chyullu Hills National Park

Zebra gives birth to a Zonkey at Chyullu hills national park. PHOTO | RMS

A zebra at the Chyulu Hills National Park gave birth to a zonkey, a breed between Zebra and Donkey found with a filly looking by her side. Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, an animal rescue and rehabilitation organization found out after blending with Donkeys before the move to the National park.
$ads={1}

It had lines, but they weren’t dark and hardly covered her body.
When caregivers at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, an animal rescue and rehabilitation organization, studied the foal up close, they were excited to discover it wasn’t a zebra after all but a zonkey, a zebra-donkey hybrid.
“Working with wildlife, one learns to expect the unexpected,” the rescue group said in a news release on Wednesday.


“Even the most seemingly straightforward story can eventually reveal its true stripes and end up surprising us all.”

Since zebra pregnancies last 12 months, the team was instantly able to tell how it all happened. During her time with the cattle herd last year, she had “obviously become acquainted with a romantic donkey,” the news release said.

“The zonkey combines the strong body of its donkey sire and the striped legs of its zebra mother, which makes for a striking creature,” the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust said.

“While it should otherwise lead a normal life, zonkeys are mules, meaning that it will be unable to successfully breed once it reaches maturity.”