Egyptian zoo accused of passing off donkey as zebra

The picture was taken by 18-year-old Mahmoud Sarhan at International Gardens Park in Cairo and has been shared more than 7,500 times on Facebook. PHOTO | FACEBOOK 

In Summary

• The picture was taken by 18-year-old Mahmoud Sarhan at International Gardens Park in Cairo.
• In 2009, a zoo in Gaza admitted painting stripes onto two donkeys to replace zebras that had died of starvation during military conflict.

By BBC
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A zoo in Egypt's capital, Cairo, has denied painting black stripes onto a donkey to pass it off as a zebra.

Take a look at this photo of the animal and judge for yourself.

The picture was taken by 18-year-old Mahmoud Sarhan at International Gardens Park in Cairo and has been shared more than 7,500 times on Facebook.

"We finished our tour then we decided to take some pictures... When he [the zebra] came near to me, I realised from the first look that it was a painted donkey not a zebra," Mahmoud is quoted in the UK's Metro newspaper as saying.

In 2009, a zoo in Gaza admitted painting stripes onto two donkeys to replace zebras that had died of starvation during military conflict.

While in 2013, visitors to a zoo in China said they felt cheated when the animal in the "African lion" cage turned out to be a hairy Tibetan mastiff dog.