Zonkey: Zoo welcomes the birth of a rare cross between a zebra and a donkey

Zonkey: A zoo in Mexico has welcomed the birth of a rare cross between a zebra and a donkey (YouTube )

A zoo in Northern Mexico has welcomed its latest arrival this week – a rare cross between a zebra and a donkey.

The ‘zonkey’ was born on 21 April at the Reynosa Zoo to a zebra who had mated with a dwarf, blue-eyed albino donkey named Ignacio.

The animal, called Khumba by staff, was born after its mother Rayas visited Ignacio, who lives on a nearby farm.

Video footage captured by the zoo shows Khumba with stripes on its legs running around an enclosure with its mother.

The zoo said such a cross is rare because zebra and donkey chromosomes were once not thought to be compatible, according to WTVY.

A zonkey called Ippo quickly became a tourist attraction when he was born in Florence, Italy last year after his father, a zebra, jumped over a fence and into a donkey enclosure.

Zonkeys have also been reported in China, the United States and Japan.