FLORENCE: An act of love between Martin the zebra and Giada
the donkey in the romantic Italian city of Florence has produced a
rare "zonkey" baby that is drawing crowds to an exotic animal
shelter.
Three-month-old Ippo is already a star and the owners of the farm
say they have received requests for rights over his image,
including one from a soft-toy company and another from Disney to
make a cartoon.
"It is very rare that a zebra and a donkey mate and reproduce,"
Serena Aglietti, the daughter of the shelter's owner, said at the
site in central Florence, near the city's landmark monuments.
The family-run Aglietti farm takes in animals rescued from circuses
or owners who treat them badly and houses a motley array of 170
animals including camels, lamas and Vietnamese pigs.
Aglietti explained that on one balmy night last year Martin -- who
was taken away years ago from a zoo where he was being abused --
jumped over the fence of his enclosure.
The lusty Martin used his snout to lift the latch on a stable door
where the donkeys were being kept.
There he consummated his love for Giada, a rare Italian Amiata
donkey brought to the clinic to be bred.
No one realized what had happened until 12 months later -- the
length of a donkey pregnancy.
"We were there at the birth. First the black hooves came out, then
the striped legs. We were amazed!" Aglietti said.
"He is doing well. He is naughty but is very sweet with children,
he is still on milk but also eating carrots," she said.
The unusual sight at the farm brings hundreds of visitors, who
compete for Ippo's attention and take pictures on
smartphones.
"We were curious to see this very sweet animal. It's very good for
children," said Patrizia, a 67-year-old visiting with her
family.
Local resident Fabrizio could not hide his shock.
"This is the first time I see him. It's not natural but nature made
it possible," he said.
Ippo still looks very much like a zebra-donkey mix -- with the
stripey legs of a zebra but a donkey's face.
However, the previous handful of zonkeys around the world --
including ones in China, Japan and the United States -- show that
he could grow up looking more like one than the other.
Ippo is officially a "zebroid" -- the name for a cross between a
zebra and any other equine.
"Zorse" is the name of a pairing with a horse, "zebrule" with a
mule. The zebra-donkey mix is also sometimes known as a
"zedonk".
Aglietti said that by November it will also be clear whether Ippo
can reproduce or not but no decision has been taken on breeding him
with a donkey or a zebra -- or indeed some other animal.
"If he is fertile, he will have the choice of who to mate with
among all the animals we have here."