The zebra crossing that led to a little zonkey
IS this foal a zebra or a donkey? The answer is not black and white – for he is Zippy the zonkey, one of only two zebra-donkey crossbreeds in Britain.
Zippy was born on October 2 on Kristine Turner’s 25-acre farm in Somerset. His mother Ziggy, a six-year-old zebra, shares the fields with nine donkeys. Ms Turner, 39, has made several attempts to produce an ultra-rare zebra crossbreed by introducing various stallions to the herd.
‘Over the years I kept thinking Ziggy was pregnant,’ she said. ‘But as time went on I thought it would be less and less likely.’
She had all but given up hope of Ziggy becoming a mother – until Rag, a fouryear-old donkey, did the deed.
Ms Turner was astonished to wake up one morning to discover that Ziggy had given birth in the night.
‘I looked out on to the field and there was a baby zonkey led next to her,’ she said. ‘I couldn’t control myself.’
She said Ziggy ‘has been a brilliant mum’, but added of Zippy: ‘You can tell he’s still half a wild animal. I know I can’t treat him like a donkey. A couple of times he’s gone to nip me.’
There is thought to be only one other zonkey in Britain, called Zambi, which lives on another UK donkey sanctuary.
Zebra crossbreeds, known as zebroids, have been bred since the 19th century. Typically such zebra crossbreeds are infertile. Many zebroids were observed in the writings of Charles Darwin.