Zoo 'paints donkey to look like a zebra' in Egypt

Images of animal spark online debate over identity

An Egyptian zoo on Tuesday refuted claims that it painted black stripes on a donkey to make it look like a zebra after a photo of the animal went viral on social media, BBC reported.

Student Mahmoud Sarhan uploaded the images on her Facebook account after visiting Cairo's International Garden municipal park.

Aside from its small size and pointy ears, there were also black smudges on the animal's face.

Is this a zebra or a donkey?

People in Egypt are saying a zoo in Nasr City painted a donkey to look like a zebra. (Credit: Mahmoud Sarhan via Storyful) pic.twitter.com/CxURCfYrIU

— AJ+ (@ajplus) July 27, 2018

After the images went viral, experts soon began weighing in on the species of the animal.

A vet contacted by a local news group Extranews.tv said that a zebra's snout is black, while its stripes are more consistent and parallel.



Sarhan said that the enclosure contained two animals and that both were painted.

Mohamed Sultan, the zoo director, insisted that the animal was not a fake.

This is not the first time that a zoo has been accused of trying to fool its audience.

Unable to find a way around the Israeli blockade, a zoo in Gaza painted two donkeys to look like zebras back in 2009.

Another Gaza zoo put stuffed animals on display in 2012 owing to a  shortages of animals.

Back in 2013, a Chinese zoo in Henan province tried to pass off a Tibetan mastiff dog as an African lion, and in 2017 a zoo in Guangxi province disappointed visitors by exhibiting blow-up plastic penguins.

Weeks later, another Guangxi zoo drew condemnation for displaying plastic butterflies.

The article originally appeared on BBC