 | ||
A Tijuana Zebra or zonkey (although the latter term may also refer to a cross between a zebra and a donkey) is a donkey that has been painted with stripes so that it looks like a zebra.
History
Tijuana zebras are a popular tourist attraction in Tijuana, Mexico, a city that borders the United States. The first known photo of a tourist posing with a Tijuana donkey is from 1914.
The Tijuana painted donkey, or Tijuana Zebra, came about some time in the middle of the twentieth century. The reason for painting the donkeys was to ensure that the animal be seen in photographs. Since the donkeys were mostly white, on sunny days with the old black and white cameras the donkey would be seen as a ghostly figure. A long-time tourist staple, the donkeys are usually set up in front of a cart on which tourists fitted with traditional sombreros sit and get ready for their picture to be taken. The donkeys live on a hillside below the Casa de la Cultura in Tijuana.
