Gaza zoo's zebra really a painted donkey

A POVERTY-stricken zoo in Gaza is in such a dire state that it has resorted to painting stripes on a donkey so it could have its own "zebra".

The Marah zoo, not far from the Bureij refugee camp and littered with broken-down animal toys, was showing off the bizarre creature claiming it was one of the exotic African beasts.

"It's really a painted donkey," admitted the zoo's director Mahmud Berghat when asked about the creature.
After explaining that the zoo used hair dye on the unsuspecting donkey, Mr Berghat said: "We cut its hair short and then painted the stripes."

Despite the confused four-legged beast hardly being able to fool zoologists, the "zebra" has been a hit with the thousands of Gaza-bound school children who have never seen such an exotic animal.

"But don't tell anyone," Mr Berghat said. "The children love him."