Kenyan wildlife keepers spot a rare hybrid of Zebra and Donkey

In what seems like quite a surprise, a Kenyan wildlife organisation Sheldrick Wildlife Trust has shared a photo of a unique animal identified as 'Zonkey' on Facebook. The hybrid of a female Zebra and a male Donkey, the mixed breed animal was seen galloping in the lush green forests alongside his Zebra mother when the wildlife trust noticed its unusual appearance. 

According to the Trust’s post on their official website, “Last May, the SWT/KWS Tsavo Mobile Veterinary Unit received a call from the KWS Community Warden at Mutomo Station. A stray zebra that had ventured out of the Tsavo East National Park and into a community bordering the park. She made herself right at home there, becoming an honorary member of a local woman’s cattle herd."  The team then had to translocate the female Zebra to another protected area. 

However, the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust added saying that earlier this year, the fence maintenance team had a sighting of the ‘wayward’ zebra with a tiny foal by her side which the team thought was wallowing in the mud bath. However, several weeks later, the trust observed that the Zebra had given birth to a Zonkey.

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Unique appearance raised suspicion

Describing the unique appearance of the animal, the trust authorities wrote in the official statement, “While zebra foals are born with white and brown stripes that eventually turn black, this little one’s body was suspiciously light on stripes and overwhelmingly tawny in colour.”  

It was then speculated that the Zebra had mated with an amorous Donkey that it had become acquainted with while its leisure stays at the Tsavo East National Park. “A Zonkey is a highly unusual hybrid between a zebra and donkey. The gestation period of a zebra is twelve months, so it’s not difficult to connect the dots”, the trust wrote in the statement.  

“The Zonkey combines the sturdy body of its Donkey sire and the striped legs of its Zebra mother, which makes for a striking creature. Zonkeys are mules”, the statement further explained. Both the foal and the Zebra mother have been kept safe in an area that “isn’t plagued by heavy predation, has lush conditions, water and grass plentiful”, said the wildlife trust. 

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