Zedonk/Zonkey - pros and cons.

[Bayle]

This question is for sake of speculation...but....anybody out there have a donkey/zebra cross? I'm wondering what makes them a good addition to the herd, and what makes them a bad addition.
I have a standard donkey and I may breed her in the next year or so in order for her to have a companion that can be raised around my strange little herd and be comfortable with the weirdness. I have been pondering the possibility of breeding her with a zebra when that time comes (if I can find a zebra to breed her with). I have read things about zebra crosses being less docile and shorter lived. Anybody here have one that can give me some reasons why I should or shouldn't want to have one??
Thanks!!

 

[Bunnylady]

I don't have one, but I have known 2 different people that had one. Both of them thought getting one was a good idea at the time . . . . but not any more!

 

[samssimonsays]

I had no idea that you could find a zebra to breed one to! I'm following this. They intruige me

 

[SheepGirl]

I work at McDonald's and one of the regular customers that comes in owns a zebra and her Donkey X son. He says he's never been able to touch the zebra since letting her loose in the pen and the baby is pretty gentle, though he doesn't handle them much. He's mainly into his huge herd of beef cattle.

 

[HomesteaderWife]

Very curious to see opinions on this, as I have never heard of zebra/donkey crosses before. Would love to hear from anyone on personal experience with this.

 

[Baymule]

Zebras are a wild animal. They are cute and pretty, but wild and they don't tame down. Good way to get seriously injured. A zedonk will be a handful. I wouldn't have one and i've had horses most of my life. I have read about people who got baby Zebras and bottle raised them, but they were still wild. I think you would really regret a breeding like this, especially if there are children around that could get hurt.

 

[JakeM]

I've never personally had experience with zebras nor any crosses of them, but I can summarize what I have heard and read.

Because zebras have, for thousands of years, been a purely wild animal and never been close to domesticated, they are hard-wired to stick with only their species (and a couple other herbivores are tolerated), and to flee/fight anything else. Humans have hunted them in the past, so them being wary of us and not wanting anything to do with us should be expected.

Due to this hard-wired nature of theirs, any zebra progeny is going to carry this behavior along with them, albeit not as strongly, but it is still there. They may stand for a petting, but don't hope for much of anything beyond that.

Zebras are short, but they are very much built, so there is quite a bit of danger from them (as from practically any animal, but some people will treat them just as a domestic horse-not good), and they can be deadly.

I'm not trying to ward you away from breeding your donkey with a zebra, just telling you the risks that are associated with them.