Ippo the zonkey doing well after birth in Italy (VIDEO)
Donkey milk: the next big thing?
What happens when a boy zebra falls for a girl donkey? They make a zonkey, of course. Of course!
Meet Ippo, child of just such a union. As Italy's Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata (ANSA) has it:
"Ippo was not bred intentionally, but is the product of the zebra's determination after he climbed a protective fence to get to the donkey, the reserve managers said."
("Obviously the results of the zoo's efforts were half-assed," someone couldn't resist commenting over at New York Magazine.)
It wasn't a zoo per se but an animal reserve in the Italian region of Florence, and keepers there say the rare foal born several days ago is doing well, according to ABC News.
The mother donkey is actually an endangered breed from Amiata in Tuscany, said ANSA. As for daddy zebra, he was "rescued from a circus," according to a report from NBC/EBU, which may explain his more adventurous lovelife.
And the kid? She's gonna be OK. "She's doing fine," the preserve's C.W. Wathen told ABC News, later adding, "[t]he other animals treat her like a member of the herd."
Ippo's animal reserve home in Florence is run by an Italian family, the Agliettis, who are known for collecting rare species.
"Ippo is the only one of his kind in Italy," the reserve's Serena Aglietti told ANSA.
Watch an enthusiastic Italian-language report on Ippo here:
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