What do you get when you cross a zebra and a donkey? A "zonkey," of course!

当斑马和驴子交配后，会生下什么样的后代呢？当然是只“斑驴”！

In a rare birth in Italy, an animal reserve near Florence welcomed a zebra-donkey hybrid¹ to the world last week. Named Ippo, the zonkey looks like a typical donkey, but carries the stripes of a zebra.

上周，意大利佛罗伦萨附近的动物保护区里，一只通过斑马和驴子杂交的小生命出世了。这只名为“伊普”的斑驴和普通驴子很像，只是身上多了斑马的条纹。

Officials said Ippo is in good health, according to local reports. The offspring of a breed of donkey from Amiata and a zebra adopted from a local zoo, the zonkey was not bred intentionally²: A determined³ male zebra scaled a fence to get into a female donkey's enclosure.

当地媒体报道，保护区官员说伊普身体十分健康。它是米亚塔驴和当地动物园所收养斑马的杂交后代。生下这只斑驴纯属意外：一只爱意坚定的雄性斑马爬过篱笆，进入母驴的领地。

However, it seems the unintentional birth is a boon⁴ for the small sanctuary⁵, which often takes in animals seized by police. "Ippo is the only one of his kind in Italy," Serena Aglietti, a member of the family that owns the reserve, told ANSA news service.

然而这个小小的保护区没有料想到会因此收到一份大礼。瑟瑞娜告诉意大利安莎新闻社说：“伊普是意大利独一无二的斑驴。”她们家族经营着这个保护区，通常只是收养被警察捕获的动物。

While a zebra-donkey hybrid is unique, its existence is not that uncommon⁶. In 2010, another zonkey with a zebra father and donkey mother was born at the Chestatee Wildlife Preserve in Georgia.

虽然斑马和驴子的混种很特别，但也不是那么凤毛麟角。2010年就有一只斑驴出生在格鲁吉亚的Chestatee野生动物保护区，爸爸是斑马，妈妈是驴子。

Interestingly, a cross between a donkey father and zebra mother is referred to as a "donkra." A donkey-zebra hybrid was born at a Chinese zoo in 2011.

有趣的是，要是爸爸是驴子、妈妈是斑马，混种后代则被称作“驴斑马”。2011年中国也出现过驴和斑马的混种。