Folks at the Chestatee Wildlife Preserve in Georgia are basking in the glow of their new, semi-striped arrival: a four-day-old zedonk, which is a rare cross between a zebra and a donkey. For readers, this may be one of the oddest concoctions since A.A. Milne introduced the elusive heffalump and woozle to Winnie the Pooh stories.
Such donkey/zebra mixes go by several names, including zebronkey, zonkey, zebadonk, zebrass or Golden Zebra, according to QueryHorse.com, which has photos of other examples.
My favorite cross-breed in fiction has to be Pegasus, the winged horse. It always managed to look graceful, despite the odd combo of legs and wings.
p.s. While we're on the topic of crossbreeding, I want to register a pet peeve -- the naming of dogs. I understand the Labradoodle (Labrador and Poodle). But what's with the Goldendoodle (Golden Retriever and Poodle)? There is no "D" in Retriever, so someone is going far afield simply to avoid the word poodle. And as a former owner of a standard poodle, I object, strenuously.
Photo from Associated Press