Blog 19_"Fake zebras" delight children in Gaza

Two donkeys were dyed manually with black stripes to resemble zebras in a small zoo in Gaza.

For those who are lucky enough to have seen a zebra in the flesh, the zebras-wannabe cannot trick you. But to children in Gaza, who have never seen a zebra outside of children's books, the donkeys can easily do the trick.

Nidal Barghouthi, the son of the owner of the Marah Land zoo, admitted that the two female donkeys were striped with masking tape and women's hair dye, to avoid expensive smuggling fees.

"It would have cost me $40000 to get a real one." said owner Mohammed Bargouthi.

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

According to the BBC, all the real animals at the zoo, including monkeys and a tigress, had been smuggled under the border at great expenses. And earlier this year, two authentic zebras died of starvation during the Israeli military offensive.

Picture courtesy of Reuters