A Zedonk? Zebra/Donkey Hybrid Born in Georgia Animal Preserve

ABC News ^ | 7-28-2010 | Bradley Blackburn

[Red Badger]

The baby animal above is not a zebra. And it's not a donkey. It's a zedonk.

With a zebra father and a donkey mother, the animal has clear black and white stripes on its legs and the brown-haired body of a donkey.

The eye-catching filly was born last Wednesday night at the Chestatee Wildlife Preserve in Dahlonega, Georgia, about 60 miles north of Atlanta.

"She's absolutely beautiful," said Alison Womack, a volunteer at the preserve, adding that the foal is "fabulous, healthy, doing well."

"We think we're going to name her Pippi, for Pippi Longstocking," said C.W. Wathen, the founder and general manager of the preserve. "That's what she looks like -- she's got socks on."

The young zedonk is already on display at the preserve, being held in a pasture with her mother until she's mature enough to join the other animals on the 20 acre property.

Her head may not look like a zebra’s, but Wathen said the young foal has the brain of an animal from the African savanna.

"She sits up, ready to go if anything happens. She's got that wild instinct," he said.

Though Wathen has let horses, zebras, and donkeys run together for decades, he said the birth was a complete surprise. It's the first zedonk born on the preserve and only the second he's seen in over 40 years of caring for exotic animals.

"When she had it, we noticed it had stripes, and we just couldn't believe it," Wathen said. "We thought after momma cleaned it, it would be different. But it never was."

He hopes that the unusual birth will bring more visitors to his non-profit zoo, a refuge for exotic animals abandoned by owners who don't know how to care for them.

Zebra-donkey crosses are rare but aren't unheard of. A foal named Alex, offspring of a Zebra mother and a donkey father, was born in Barbados in 2005.

[Red Badger]

[ClearCase_guy]

Zedonkadonk. Nice ass.

[EnquiringMind]

OMG, that is the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen!!!

[ladyvet]

black, white and an ass....don’t we have one of these already in the White House?

[Red Badger]

Does this count as a Gardening Ping?...............

[ElkGroveDan]

These are surely the end times; wars, strife, murder, human sacrifice, donkeys and zebras living together.

[repentant_pundit]

Being a donkey, and a zebra...if it had been male, it could have been named....aw, never mind.

Seriously, an adorable critter, that.

[Red Badger]

We don't need no zebras!..........

[MrB]

I saw two of these last weekend at the Creation Museum in Kentucky. One of them sneezed on my daughter...:)

They're calling them "zorses" though:

[Red Badger]

Crosses between zebras and horses have been around for quite some time..................

[Beowulf9]

So, now can this zedonk reproduce?

[Red Badger]

Unlikely.............but it has happened before............

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zedonk

[MrB]

I would swear that those that I saw in the petting zoo were donkey crosses, but I could be wrong - probably am, since the picture is clearly labeled “zorse”.

[Red Badger]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zedonk

[MrB]

Just checked again - they have both a “zonkey” and a “zorse”.

[bgill]

Awww, that’s a cutie!

[Red Badger]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zorse

[Proud_USA_Republican]

It’s mother obviously likes to get her freak on.

[ThePatrioticArtist]

Look at those little stripey legs! :D cute!

[Red Badger]

It’s father likes to get some ass now and then...............

[Disambiguator]

I hope it doesn’t get eaten by a liger.

[RikaStrom]

What a cutie.

[Red Badger]

or a tiglon...............

[Marty62]

Cute.

Here ya go Bradley: This is a story you might find interesting.
But then you would have known about it if you paid attention in school.

All About MULES!

The Mule is a cross between a donkey stallion (called a jack) and a horse mare. Hinnies are just the opposite - a stallion horse crossed to a donkey jennet. For all purposes, hinnies and mules are classified and shown together under the general term Mule. A mule or hinny may be a male (horse mule or horse hinny) or a female (mare mule or mare hinny). Sometimes horse mules (the males) are called Johns, and the mares are called Mollies. Both male and female mules have all the correct “parts” but they are sterile and cannot reproduce. A VERY few (about 1 in 1 million) mare mules have had foals, but these are VERY, very rare. No male mule has ever sired a foal. SO if you cross a mule to a mule - you get nothing! Mules and hinnies must be bred by crossing a donkey and horse every time. (Male mules should also be castrated, since they are sterile. They can become dangerous with too many hormones, so should always be castrated. You can’t show an intact male mule, anyway, and it is useless to keep them a stallion).
http://www.lovelongears.com/about_mules.html

[I Buried My Guns]

I hope it doesn’t get eaten by a liger

"It's known for it's skills in magic".

[DoughtyOne]

And here I thought it was a Zeobamkey. He’s a cute little guy.

[TigersEye]

A Zedonk? Zebra/Donkey Hybrid Born in Georgia Animal Preserve

I'm not saying anything. Your daughter might be able to interpret this story. ;^) EFG

[TigersEye]

Do you have a zorse for that claim?

[rahbert]

Talk about Roman noses..!

[humblegunner]

I saw two of these last weekend at the Creation Museum in Kentucky.

Isn't that the place that thinks man co-existed with dinosaurs?

What did you think of that?

[Aria]

black, white and an ass....don’t we have one of these already in the White House?

LOLOL It was inevitable that someone would say that. HA

[Young Werther]

Question “Who Mulested Whom?”

[MrB]

I think Matthew 7:6.

[redhead]

"Zedonkadonk. Nice ass."

Has MY vote for post of the day...

[humblegunner]

Yeah.
And dinosaurs were on the Ark and the Earth is 6,000 years old.

This is why institutions exist.

[RickB444]

I was expecting to see a picture of Obama. He’s a zebra mixed with a donkey and he’s a total ass.

[RickB444]

Tastes like chicken.

[Sergio]

LOL!

[Excellence]

You forgot earthquakes!

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/

[MrB]

Does that source contain the relative historic frequency of earthquakes?

I’ve been looking for something like that.

[Excellence]

I have no idea, but I check it every day. It’s amazing the strength and frequency of earthquakes lately.

[MrB]

I looked around on it, and the information is there, but not in a very useful format. I’d have to do a lot of compilation in order to get the analysis I’m looking for.

[dusttoyou]

Yep, there’s an “exotics” ranch south of Frankston, Texas that has several born and bred on the ranch. The rancher says they are still pretty darn wild.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I’m thinking the Zebra enclosure fence needs to be a little higher, as does the Donkey fence, LOL!

[pandoraou812]

WE both want one, lol!