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There are weird combinations of animals in the whole world. You've probably heard about a breed from a horse and a zebra, sheep and a goat or known as a "geep," a breed from a lion and a tiger, better known as a "liger," and many others. However, no one has ever encountered a breed from a zebra and donkey, or what we like to call nowadays a zonkey.
Chyulu Hills National Park, Kenya
Chyulu Hills National Park is one of the most famous parks in Africa. The park is known to be very natural-looking and the park's management and staff made sure that the place will be left untouched. Meaning, trees, plants, and animals that live there are originally from the place. However, just recently, a weird animal breed from two different species was born and it is one of the most amazing animals the park has ever had.
Just when the year started, a zebra was spotted at the park with a weirdly-colored creature walking beside her. The creature looked very different because of its physical features, specifically the creature's color. The animal was four-legged, the same as the zebra that was striding beside it, however, the upper part of the creature's body is different from its lower part.
Experts and staff that were on duty in the park during that time hurriedly tracked the two animals. When they were able to take a look at it at a closer angle, the creature showed that its upper part looked like a donkey, but its lower part of the body showed black stripes, just like a zebra's.
At first, when the park's caregivers thought that the creature was just dirty and probably fell into a mud pool, but after examining the creature intently, they found out that the little creature was an unusual mix of a zebra and donkey.
According to the research that the experts did, they explained that before the zebra arrived and settled at the Chyulu Hills National Park, the zebra once lived in a community found in Tsavo East National Park where she made herself welcome to a cattle herd owned by a woman living near the park. The experts thought that the mother zebra must have mated with a donkey.
One of Africa's oldest conservation organization, Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, stated that a zebra's gestation comes around 12 months. Tracking the zebra's whereabouts from the time she mated was not hard to track. During the zebra's stay in the community in the last year, she must have encountered a donkey and mated with him.
The zonkey's feature is very obvious and you can tell that it is partly donkey and zebra because of its physical appearance. The zonkey had a sturdy body that is very similar to a donkey's body form and it acquires stripes in the lower part of the body, which is a dominant feature of a zebra's.
Overall, the zonkey is one amazing creature and definitely has a striking appearance.
The mother zebra and her zonkey
According to the caregivers, the mother zebra and her baby zonkey are healthy and they are both thriving. The two now live in the Chyulu Hills National Park where they don't have to worry about finding food and water because the park has good lush conditions for both of them and has plenty of sources of grass and water. However, the park's management said that they will take care of the pair for the meantime until they find a zeal that they can socialize with.
