'Zeedonks' were bred at Colchester in, I think, 1979, 80 and 81. This is the last surviving one and it lives on the African Plains exhibit along side Ostriches, Giraffes, Greater Kudu and Chapman's Zebra.
In Cecil Webb's autobiography 'A Wanderer in the Wind' there is a photo of a Grevy's Zebra x Arab mare; looks much more Grevy's-ish than the Colchester Hybrids.
There is an idea that some bird hybrids revert to ancestral plumage patterns not found in either parent. For example, the Baikal Teal is the only extant duck species with a 'bridled' face pattern, yet many hybrids, with no Baikal in their ancestry, show a similar pattern. Could this be why you get Grevy's-like striping on non-Grevy's hybrids?
In Cecil Webb's autobiography 'A Wanderer in the Wind' there is a photo of a Grevy's Zebra x Arab mare; looks much more Grevy's-ish than the Colchester Hybrids.
There is an idea that some bird hybrids revert to ancestral plumage patterns not found in either parent. For example, the Baikal Teal is the only extant duck species with a 'bridled' face pattern, yet many hybrids, with no Baikal in their ancestry, show a similar pattern. Could this be why you get Grevy's-like striping on non-Grevy's hybrids?
Most Grevy x's I have seen(photos of) are bigger but have a horse, not a donkey as the other parent. Although I originally thought the Colchester hybrids were Grevy x, it now seems very likely (see scan) that it was a Grants/Chapman father. Regarding the inheritance of the markings, as some species of wild ass e.g. Somali, have striped legs, is this a vestigial striping marking of Asses, i.e. were donkeys once striped too and was the striping pattern in these hybrids contributed from both sides of the mating perhaps?
In Cecil Webb's autobiography 'A Wanderer in the Wind' there is a photo of a Grevy's Zebra x Arab mare; looks much more Grevy's-ish than the Colchester Hybrids.
The Grevy's zebra x Arab mare hybrid depicted book was bred by Raymond Hook. The Grevy's zebra x horse hybrids that arrived at Chester Zoo in the 1950s were also bred by Raymond Hook.
There is an idea that some bird hybrids revert to ancestral plumage patterns not found in either parent. For example, the Baikal Teal is the only extant duck species with a 'bridled' face pattern, yet many hybrids, with no Baikal in their ancestry, show a similar pattern. Could this be why you get Grevy's-like striping on non-Grevy's hybrids?
This exactly what Professor J. Cossar-Ewart suggests in his book “The Penycuik Experiments” (1899) which describes his experiments with breeding zebra hybrids.
Whilst browsing I came across the website www.safaripark.de and found a picture of a very unusual zebrapferd - zebroid - that they have . Large parts of it are pure white , other bits the more normal brown with stripes , it has a large upright mane .
