Zebras are one of the few members of the Equidae family that haven’t been fully domesticated. Zebras belong to the genus Equus, and as such they can crossbreed with other Equus species. The resulting hybrid is almost always sterile. The three species of zebras have between 44 and 62 chromosomes, donkeys have 62, and horses have 64. In case you don’t recall what they look like, here are typical zebras.
A crossbred zebra is known as a zebroid or zebra mule. Zebroids were originally bred as pack animals in Africa for practical reasons. They are more resistant to certain diseases, such as sleeping sickness, than horses or donkeys. Zebroids for domestic use are bred for the look of a zebra, tempered by the domesticated nature of a horse or donkey. The crossbreed is often shaped like the non-zebra parent, which makes finding a proper saddle simpler than trying to ride a zebra. Zebra stripes tend to show up on at least part of the hybrid’s body.
Zony
A zony is a cross between a zebra and a pony. This zony’s name is Ziggy; he lives at a farm in Knights Ferry, CA with his camel friend. (image credit: Jenguin)
Zebret
Alex is a foal with a zebra mother and a donkey father. This cross is called a zebret or zebrinny (image credit: Chris Brandis/AP)
Zedonk
A zebra stallion bred with a female donkey would be called a zedonk or zonkey. The exact parentage of the petting zoo zebroid pictured here is uncertain, but it is a donkey/zebra cross.
Zorse
This photograph caused many people to cry “Photoshop!” Eclyse is a zorse, meaning her father was a zebra, and her mother was a horse. Her markings are unusual even for a zorse. In most animal hybrids, you see a gradual blending of traits from each parent. In this case, there is no question about which body part came from each parent!
Z.J. is a more typically-colored zorse, sired by a zebra stallion with an American Paint horse.
Hebra
A zebroid with a horse for a father and a zebra mother is called a hebra. They are much rarer then zorses, and look very different from a zorse. This hebra lives at the Colchester Zoo in England. (image credit: Dcgi)
Quagga
The quagga looks like a cross between a zebra and some other animal, but it was a type of zebra. The word “quagga” was used interchangably with “zebra” when Europeans colonized Africa. The quagga was identified as a seperate species in 1788, but that didn’t stop hunters and settlers from killing them for meat, hides, and to preserve grazing land. The quagga became extinct when the last one died in captivity on August 12, 1883. DNA analysis of the preserved remains of several quaggas revealed that it was not a separate species after all, but a subspecies of the Plains zebra. The Quagga Project is selectively breeding Plains zebras with DNA similar to the quagga in order to bring the quagga back and reintroduce it to protected preserves in its former habitat in South Africa.
Okapi
This animal looks like a cross between a zebra and a giraffe! But it’s more of a red herring here. The okapi is an African rainforest relative of the giraffe that just happens to have zebra-striped legs. Although known to locals, the okapi was considered a mythical animal among Europeans until it was classified in the twentieth century. Okapis are neither descended from nor related to zebras. (image credit: Mark Pellegrini)
This article was inspired by a series of posts last year at Neatorama.
Comments (15)
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Excellent post!
posted by mc112358 on 3-6-2008 at 6:19 am
While I was attending the University of Findlay in Findlay, Ohio, they acquired two Zonkeys. The story was that there was a carnival owner that had them and abused their animals and U of F was given the rights to care for them until a more suitable home was found. Luckily, I was a very close friend to one of the vet students and was able to visit them during an off time. They were more skittery than an average donkey but still approachable. The picture here is very close to what they looked like, except that both of them had zebra stripes higher up on the legs.
posted by Amauriel on 3-6-2008 at 6:31 am
The zorse Eclyse looks like a chimera rather than a hybrid. Has her DNA been tested with that possibility in mind?
posted by Roland Mercer on 3-6-2008 at 6:50 am
I was thinking the same thing Roland!
posted by Cassandra on 3-6-2008 at 8:18 am
Great post, this was a fascinating read. Eclyse is amazing, I can see why someone could really think the photo was photoshopped.
posted by CK on 3-6-2008 at 12:35 pm
Oooh, most nifty! Hybrids are a fascination of mine, and now I am armed with more knowledge!
posted by kitsana_d on 3-6-2008 at 12:37 pm
Is it totally weird that the entire time I was reading this post I was thinking… “Where can you see lions? only in Kenza…where the giraffes are and the zebra!”
posted by Suzanne on 3-6-2008 at 1:46 pm
oops, I mean “Kenya”.
posted by Suzanne on 3-6-2008 at 1:46 pm
But Mr. Ed was a full bred Zebra, right?
posted by ramon on 3-6-2008 at 5:00 pm
I doubt Eclyse is a chimera, she/he just has the pinto pattern (white superimposed over the other color) which is very common in horses.
Also – zorses can be trained and ridden like normal horses! It’s pretty cool to see them under saddle or in harness, they’re definitely pretty.
posted by Jamie on 3-6-2008 at 6:04 pm
are these pictures real ? some look almost like they were photoshopped thats crazy!
posted by Kaileigh on 1-17-2009 at 1:32 pm
Hi! Beautiful photos and nice writeup! The animals shown in pix #2, #4, and #7 are all zedonks (#2, standing by the camel, is mislabelled as a zorse). The smaller zedonks in pic #2 and #7 are more ponylike in conformation because they are sired by a Plains zebra with similar size and conformation. The tall zedonk in #4 is sired by a Grevy zebra (much taller, bigger rounder ears, big head, Grevy pattern).
Former secretary for zebra hybrid registry of the American Donkey and Mule Society
posted by Lisa McDonald on 1-3-2010 at 4:13 am
I think they have zedonks in Alabama.
posted by Sara in Al on 3-15-2010 at 2:46 pm
Hybrids are awesome, I really wish that I could own a zorse! I remember when I first heard about hybrids in freshmen biology, and that Ligers were real. I googled it as soon as I went home that day, its amazing that they don’t have a gene restriction for size. Which made me curious as to whether, besides the pretty patterning, if zebra hybrids have unique traits because of the genetic coding?
posted by Melissa on 3-16-2010 at 12:32 am
When I lived in Sth Africa a lot of the local people kept African Pygmy Camels as pets they are cute little affectionate animals very nice.
posted by Alexandra on 8-5-2011 at 12:34 pm