Page 12 - IAV Digital Magazine #455

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Egyptian Zoo Paints Donkey Black and White, Tries to Pass It Off As Zebra
By Spooky
A new zoo in Cairo’s International Garden munici- pal park has come under fire for trying to deceive visitors by painting a donkey black and white to make it look like a zebra.
On July 21st, Mahmoud A. Sarhani, a Cairo student who had recently visited the recently opened zoo posted a photo of a strange- looking zebra on his Facebook page. Not only did the animal have usually- long ears, but it also had some strange paint smudges on the side of its head. A closer inspec- tion reveals that
this zebra also lacks the char- acteristic mane of its species, which extends forward past the ears. Apparently, zoo staff painted a common donkey white with black stripes, trimmed its mane to make it look pointy and tried
to pass it off as a zebra. Unfortunately, the hot weather caused the paint to smudge which attracted unwanted atten- tion.
Mahmoud’s photo quickly went viral on social media, getting over
10,000 reactions and 1,500 com- ments on Facebook. Most people found it hilarious, but some declared themselves out- raged and asked for an explanation from the zoo’s man- agement.
Mainstream
news websites in Egypt quickly picked up the story and decid- ed to investi- gate. Nogoum FM radioalso posted some photos of the so-called zebra, and they pretty much
confirm Mahmo ud A. Sarhani’s findings, but
they also man- aged to con- tact Mohamed Sultan, the director of International Gardens park, for an explana- tion.
Sultan flat-out denied rumors that the zebra at International Gardens zoo was fake, despite multiple veterinarians confirming that the animal in the photos was actually a don- key.
Interestingly, this isn’t the first time a zoo tried to pass donkeys off as zebras. In 2009, a zoo in Gaza painted two donkeys black and white to replace a pair of zebras that had died of star- vation.
iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine