Egyptian zoo’s zebra appears to be a painted donkey

An Egyptian zoo seems to have come up with a novel way to compensate for its lack of wildlife diversity, apparently painting a donkey to pass as a zebra.

When student Mahmoud Sarhan visited the zoo in Cairo’s Nasr City district and arrived at the zebra enclosure, he became suspicious.

“When we approached the zebra we realized that the lines were clearly painted, the paint was smudgy and his hair was nothing like that of a zebra,” Sarhan told ABC News this week. “It was a normal Egyptian donkey that you see everywhere.”

Another fake zebra could be seen in one of the photos.

Sarhan’s Facebook post on the matter quickly went viral.

“Stupidity in our country has reached a level that they are now painting over a donkey to make it look like a Zebra,” he wrote. “They are so stupid they forgot to paint another layer and so it smudged on the donkey’s face.”

The zoo has denied its zebra is anything but authentic. But experts have agreed the animal bears little resemblance to its African cousin. And an official with Egypt’s Central Administration for Zoos told ABC that animal was very definitely fake.