A lion and tiger make a liger, so what does a horse and zebra make?
What’s brown and black and white all over? The zorse! Zorses are one of the world’s many cross-breeds, but this one is very peculiar. Another name for zorses is a zebroid. A zebroid is any animal that is half zebra and half donkey or horse. Zorses mostly live in zoos these days. The zorse’s parent horse is from Europe while its parent zebra is from Africa. A zorse is sterile even though it has normal mating behaviors. A zorse is aggressive and powerful due to traits of the wild zebra. The zorse has many interesting physical features like the stripes around their bodies. The habitat of the zorse is typically in zoos or research facilities. The zorse is an animal possessing many interesting facts, as well.
One of the zorse’s most noticeable features are dark stripes that are bold on their legs and rear, around the rest of the body, neck, and head. Zorses typically have short, coarse fur whose color can be from tan to brown to black, with a darker mane and tail. Zorses have a large head with a long muzzle, pricked up ears, and large, dark eyes with long eyelashes that prevent things from getting in their eyes. Zorses have long, thin legs that are extremely muscular and end typically black, sometimes white. Colored hooves are made from horn and allow the zorse to be sturdier when moving through different terrains.
The zorse is widely spread out through the world. A wild zonkey, which is the offspring of a zebra and donkey, is commonly seen. It is extremely rare to find zorses or zonkeys in the wild. The wild zebra is found in the eastern and southern part of Africa near grasslands and the savannah. It is extremely rare to see a wild horse in Africa since the horse is native to Europe and Asia. European introduction of horses created the hybrid. It is possible to have a wild zebra mate with a domestic horse to create semi-wild zorse. Wild zorses are constantly hunted by the same predators as zebra, but they are harder to kill since they are larger and have keener senses. Still, almost all of the world’s zorses are either in zoos or animal-based organizations around the world. A few zorses are used as workhorses that are typically found in parts of southern Africa and North America.
A zorse can be also called zebrula, zebrule, zebra mule and golden zebra. A zorse is typically a product of a zebra stallion and a horse mare. The reverse pairings’ offspring is sometimes called a hebra. A zorse is also sterile which means that if two zorses mate, they will not have any offspring. Even so, the zorse still has a normal mating habit. A zorse can be two or even three times stronger than a horse depending on what species of horse and zebra gave birth to it. The first zorse was bred in the turn of the 19th century in South Africa by a government sponsored-organization. The purpose was to create another beast of burden, an animal to work on fields, along with zebras and zonkeys. Zorses can be also used for riding, herding, or being in circus. There is even an association for zorse lovers in Ramona, California, named the International Zebra Zorse Zonkey Association, or IZZZA for short.