Zoo Tries to Pass Off Painted Donkey As Zebra

A zoo in Cairo, Egypt, made an ass of itself by trying to disguise two donkeys as zebras, painting them with black and white stripes.

But guest Mahmoud Sarhan saw through the International Garden municipal park's ruse and posted pictures of the poorly-disguised animals on Facebook.

In spite of a smudged and patchy paint job, zoo director Mohamed Sultan told local radio station Nogoum FM the creatures were indeed zebras, the BBC reported.

But his words didn't fool veterinarian M Samy, who confirmed the animals weren't zebras to local news station Extra News.

Zebras should have a black snout, not to mention much smaller ears than those of the animal photographed by Sarhan. Below is an image of the real thing.

Zebras are members of the horse family, Equidae. They are wild animals often found in captivity. Although donkeys are also equids, they are domesticated and frequently used by humans as working animals. Donkeys usually have brown and grey coats, unlike a zebra's bold black-and-white stripes.

This donkey isn't the only animal imposter to fool unsuspecting humans in recent months. Earlier this year, news emerged of a Chinese family surprised to discover their pet dog was, in fact, a black bear. The family gave up the cub after it grew much larger than they had expected.

One animal that might have been craving a disguise was English bulldog Zsa Zsa, who recently won the coveted/dubious title of World's Ugliest Dog at the Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds in Petaluma, California. The 9-year old dog died shortly after her victory, NBC affiliate 7 San Diego reported.

In other unusual animal news, a large snake recently slithered its way into a Texas home through a toilet, terrifying a man who was cleaning the bathroom. A local law enforcement officer wrangled the creature with her bare hands before it could escape the bathroom.

A resident of neighboring state Louisiana recently acquired a snake with two heads. A friend gave her the creature after he discovered it in his backyard. Tanee Janusz named the heads Filo and Gumbo, in a two-headed nod to their New Orleans background.