Zebra gives birth after mating with donkey

Arusha. Zebra and donkey have a new baby called zonkey.

The rare baby was born after its mother mated with a donkey male, according to wildlife scientists.

The mating may have taken place in Kenya as the strange baby was spotted in Chyulu Hills National Park near the Tanzanian border.

According to the wire agencies, mother zebra was spotted with a strange looking foal by her side recently.

The foal had a brown body and strips up and down its legs. Initially it was thought the baby was dirty after wallowing in mud. However, on close examination the baby animal was actually an unusual hybrid between a zebra and donkey.

Scientists with Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, one of Africa’s oldest conservation organizations, made the revelation last week.

Observations made by scientists said prior to living at Chyulu Hills National Park, the mother zebra had been found settling in a nearby community.

Further observations had it she made herself ‘a honorary member’ of a local woman’s livestock herd and must have mated with a donkey.

“She must have acquainted with an amorous donkey,” the organization wrote on its website as picked by the news agencies.

The young zonkey, it said, combines the sturdy body of its donkey sire and the stripped legs of its zebra mother.

According to officials of the Kenya-based Trust the foal is expected to live a normal life.

However, since it is a mule it would be unable to successfully breed once it reaches maturity.

Scientists say though rare, interbreeding of different animal species does occur in nature and include mating between zebras and donkeys.

The process of hybridisation, however, can only be successful if the genes of both the species are the same. This will allow combination of both genes.