A Zebra or a donkey?

Gaza zoo paints stripes on donkeys

Gaza zoo paints stripes on donkeys

A zoo in Gaza has painted two white donkeys with stripes in order to replace two zebras that died of starvation earlier this year during the Israel-Hamas war.

Israel restricts the importing of animals into Gaza, so the Marah Land Zoo's keepers covered the pair of donkeys in black and white stripes instead.

Can a Zebra change its stripes? One of the two 'zebras' at Marah Land Zoo

Mohammed Bargouthi, the owner of the zoo, said it would have cost $40,000 (Rs 18.5 lakh) to smuggle in a real zebra into Gaza. So, instead, he used French-manufactured hair dye.

Bargouthi's son, Nidal, said the two female donkeys were striped using masking tape and hair dye, applied with a paint brush.

"The first time we used paint, but it didn't look good," he said. "The children don't know so they call them zebras and they are happy to see something new."

Hasan Yaseen, a visitor to the zoo, said that since his three children had never seen a real zebra, they enjoyed the Gaza version.

Aside from the two 'zebras', the zoo also flaunts an ageing tigress, two monkeys, and some birds.