A zoo in Cairo, Egypt, has denied charges that it painted donkeys to look like zebras - but the Internet thinks otherwise. A photo of the donkey-zebra (Zebronkey? Donkbra?) went viral on the Internet after it was posted to Facebook by Egyptian student Mahmoud Sarhan. According to BBC, the picture was taken at Cairo's International Garden municipal park.
The picture shows a suspicious-looking animal, with a lighter snout and longer ears than a typical zebra's. It also appears to have smudged paint on its face.
Aside from generating plenty of laughter and lots of raised eyebrows, the photograph has also gone viral with over 7,000 'shares' on Facebook alone. Hilarious reactions to the pic have also been curated into a Twitter Moment.
Mr Sarhan told a local news group Extranews.tv that the enclosure contained two animals, and both looked like they had been painted black and white. A vet contacted by Extranews.tv said that a zebra's snout is black, while its stripes are more consistent and parallel than those of the animals in the zoo enclosure.
However, BBC reports that when contacted by a local radio station, the zoo's director insisted that the animal was not a fake.
His denial does not seem to have convinced the Internet though:
Egypt zoo accused of painting donkey to look like a zebra
- @Georgebakhos1 (@GeorgeBakhos1) July 26, 2018
Proves that not everything is black and white.
Zebra or Donkey? pic.twitter.com/5TYSNeL3ok
"Zebras also have black snouts, according to one expert. They are also larger and less donkey-like than the animal in the viral photo, and do not have smudged stripes. "https://t.co/bMuh9v3Clf
- Jeff (@jeffreyaweber) July 26, 2018
Remember the Chinese zoo that was trying to pass that dog off as a lion? Now an Egyptian zoo is trying to pass painted Donkeys off as Zebras. pic.twitter.com/1KI3Qe4h0T
- Cameron (Time Traveler) (@Para_Mystery) July 27, 2018
Meanwhile, Mr Sarhan, who shared the original picture on July 21, tells NDTV that he "feel shocked till now" by both the donkey-zebra and the reaction that the pic has generated.
