Call It Zonkey or a Deebra?

MSNBC ^ | April 29, 2005 | The Associated Press

[MississippiMasterpiece]

ST. THOMAS, Barbados - It's male. But what is it? A zonkey? A deebra? That's the debate in Barbados since a zebra gave birth to a foal sired by a donkey.

Alex was born April 21, a milk-chocolate brown creature with the black stripes of a zebra on his ears and legs. His face looks more like a horse, with a distinctive black "V" patch on the forehead.

"It's really funny and a little bit freaky," said Natalie Harvey, a 29-year-old waitress. "I was stunned to hear about such a weird thing happening here."

While zebra hybrids are not uncommon, most Barbadians have never seen anything like Alex.

His mother, Allison, is one of two zebras brought to the Caribbean island from Botswana, in southern Africa, in the early 1990s. The other is George and both live at Highland, a six-acre ranch where goats, sheep, ducks and donkeys roam free.

George, however, suffered a long illness, and Allison became friendly with a donkey.

"We knew she was with foal but were not sure who the father was," said Philip Atwell, the head of Highland ranch.

[Nowhere Man]

Hmmmmm. I remember seeing one of those in my Weekly Reader when I was in first grade. That puts it around 1973/74. I remember back then, they gave her the name "Debra" for Donkey/zEBRA, so I guess at that time, they called them "Deebras." "Zonkey" would be cool too but it reminds me of the old Monty Hall show, "Let's Make a Deal" when a contestant opened Door #2 and got a "Zonkey" (Donkey as a "zonk" prize) to take home. B-) A little over 30 years later, it seems like what is old is new again.

[SunkenCiv]

Note: this topic is from 4/29/2005. Barely hanging on as a GGG topic. Thanks MississippiMasterpiece.