Rare zonkey donkra zedonk type of thing born in China

A rare hybrid cross of a donkey father and a zebra mother is attracting attention in the Xiamen Haicang Safari Park after he was born on Sunday. The "zedonk" has black and white stripes prominently displayed on his four legs, but his brown body haired looks more like a donkey, said one of his keepers at the park.

He is said to be in good health and has bonded well with his zebra mother, who raises her powerful hind legs to attack any animal or zoo keeper trying to reach the baby animal.

The Xiamen Haicang Safari Park keeps its only zebra and 3 male donkeys in the same enclosure. Zoo keepers didn’t know about the mate until the zebra got pregnant last July, leaving it hard to identify the real father among the 3 donkeys.

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It’s the fourth reported case around the world, and Prof. Wang Yiquan from Xiamen University said donkeys and zebras are different species having the same chromosome which makes a hybrid offspring biologically work, but the romance would not likely happen if the two animals were not kept in the closed breeding environment together.