What Do You Get When You Cross a Zebra and a Donkey? You're Going to Have to See This to Believe It

What do you get when you cross a zebra and a donkey? Why, a zonkey, of course!

Image source: Screen Capture AP Video

Born on April 21 at a zoo in Mexico, this curious-looking creature is not a first, but it is quite rare.

Zookeepers at Zoologico De Reynosa have told several news outlets that the crossbreeding was not planned.

According to reports, this striped-legged little fellow, named Khumba, is the product of an unexpected pairing between a female zebra and the local albino donkey seen in the photo below.

Image source: Weather.com video screen capture

There are significant genetic differences that make this a rare event. Zebra chromosomes typically number between 32 and 46. Over in the donkey gene pool, you'll count 62 chromosomes. And in the case of the zonkey, you might find the low end of the zebra spectrum at 32 or all the way up to the donkey's 62 chromosomes.

Khumba's birth has brought a lot of attention to the zoo in Reynosa, Mexico and photos and videos of the zonkey are tearing up the internet and providing a welcome spike in traffic to the northern Mexico zoo's Facebook page.

Watch the Associated Press video report here:

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Featured image via Facebook.