I have only seen a few zebra hybrids; apart from the foal in this photograph all those I’ve seen involve one domestic parent too.
(I saw Colchester Zoo’s trio of plains zebra x black donkey hybrids many times, Chester Zoo’s Grevy’s zebra x horse hybrids a few times and, more recently, a zebra (species ?) x donkey hybrid at Groombridge Place. I’ve never seen any others.)
S
spike1983
where is this little guy based? and is he on show to the public?
I've seen the same ones as you except the Groombridge Place one, but also remember one at Paignton in the 1960's- I think it may have been Grevy x Donkey but not absolutely sure.
I probably only saw it once, and then only its rear end as it was standing indoors facing way from me and didn't come outside. It was labelled 'Equine hybrid,' I remember that.
i can not believe one of the parents is a true Somali Ass but i suspect it is one of the Catskill animals. Zebroids, hybrids between zebras and horses or donkeys, have been bred since 1800; i think the first was in the zoo of Turin, Italy but the British soon produced several; Lord Morton i believe. Some breathtaking pictures exist.. Every conceivable equine hybrid was produced, even with quaggas and onagers..
i can not believe one of the parents is a true Somali Ass but i suspect it is one of the Catskill animals. Zebroids, hybrids between zebras and horses or donkeys, have been bred since 1800; i think the first was in the zoo of Turin, Italy but the British soon produced several; Lord Morton i believe. Some breathtaking pictures exist.. Every conceivable equine hybrid was produced, even with quaggas and onagers..
Believe it; there are plenty of true Somali Ass around in Europe. The Catskill animals were never claimed to be Somali in any case; those were allegedly Nubian.
Oh, and to my knowledge no Catskill stock was ever sent to Europe.
.....the British soon produced several; Lord Morton i believe. Some breathtaking pictures exist.. Every conceivable equine hybrid was produced, even with quaggas and onagers..
Yes, a hybrid between Lord Morton’s male quagga and a female horse was born in 1815; there is a painting of this hybrid by the famous artist Agasse in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons.
A hybrid between a male donkey and a female quagga was born in 1830 (and is mounted in the Doncaster Museum).
Believe it; there are plenty of true Somali Ass around in Europe. The Catskill animals were never claimed to be Somali in any case; those were allegedly Nubian.Oh, and to my knowledge no Catskill stock was ever sent to Europe.
Another British lord bred every possible equine hybrid and they were beautifully portrayed but in an almost deerlike fashion, not true to nature. Two animals on each colour plate. After the lord died his estate was broken up. At present i am unable to remember his name. I must have mixed it up.
Decades ago i was to write a historical treatise on unusual equine hybrids but due to family circumstances of the direst kind it was abandoned.
And i donated my files to the former Wassenaar zoo. Which frowns on hybrids!
I only know the Catskill animals came from an expedition to Eritrea (in 1930?) and the captors divided the asses into two groups: Somali and Nubian. I thought the Catskill zoo took both. But i am glad the Nubians survived.
