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Updated: 2001-06-28 01:00

Striped Surprise--British Shetland Pony Gives Birth to Zebra (2001/06/29)

英国设得兰矮种马产下斑马驹 (2001/06/29)

The owners of Tilly the Shetland pony received a double shock when she gave birth. They didn't know she was pregnant - and they certainly weren't expecting a zebra.

Striped Surprise--British Shetland Pony Gives Birth to ZebraTilly's owners at Eden Ostrich World, a modest visitor attraction on a farm near Penrith in northwestern England, had been unaware of the pony's exotic past life at a wildlife park, where she shared a field with a male zebra.

"She was fairly fat when we received her and we thought that she was getting fatter," Ostrich World manager Karen Peet said.

"It really was a bit of a shock when we got up one morning and we saw the foal that was there."

The striped half-Shetland, half-zebra foal - dubbed a "zetland" or a "shebra" but as yet unnamed - has flourished since her birth a week ago, and Peet said visitors would be able to view her beginning Monday.

The farm plans to hold a competition to name the creature, which has black-and-tan stripes and a zebra's distinctive large head.

Veterinarians say such a foal is rare, but not unknown. British zoos have reported the birth of several "zeedonks" - offspring of a zebra and a donkey - over the years.

"Ponies and zebras very rarely share the same environment even in the wild. A meeting between the two is very rare in the natural environment," said Lesley Barwise-Munro, spokeswoman for the British Equine Veterinary Association.

"If the zebra is the father and the horse is the mother there is no reason why a normal fertilization and a pregnancy should not take place," she added. "But the offspring is unlikely to be fertile."

(Agencies)

设得兰矮种马提利产下小马驹的时候,她的主人感到了双重意外:一来他们根本不知道提利已经怀孕,二来他们怎么也没想到提利会产下一匹"斑马"。

提利的主人生活在艾登鸵鸟世界,这个鸵鸟世界位于英格兰西北部潘瑞斯附近的一家农场里,也说得上是个旅游景点。提利的主人们并没有在意对这匹矮种马过去在野生动物园的生活,这匹矮种马曾和一匹公斑马公同生活在野生动物园的一片领地里。

鸵鸟世界经理凯伦-皮特说:"它刚到我们这儿来的时候就挺肥的,我们还以为它正在发福呢。"

"当我们一天早晨醒来,发现多了一头斑马驹的时候,着实吃了一惊。"

这头带有斑马纹的小马驹身上设得兰矮种马和斑马的血统各半。现在它还没有正式的名字,有人叫它"斑得兰",也有人叫它"设斑马"。出生一周,小家伙的长势良好,皮特说游客周一开始可以和它见面。

Striped Surprise--British Shetland Pony Gives Birth to Zebra
这个小家伙长着黑色、棕褐色相间的斑纹和具有明显斑马特征的大脑袋,农场计划为它举办一场命名赛。

兽医们表示这样的杂交斑马驹虽说不是没有过,还还是很少见。英国动物园前些年曾有过"斑驴",即斑马和驴的杂交斑马驹的报道。

英国兽医协会研究马科动物的女发言人莱斯丽-巴外斯-曼路说:"野生状态下,矮种马和斑马共同相处的可能性极少,二者很少有机会相遇。"

她还补充说:"如果斑马是是雄斑马,矮种马是是雌马,正常的受精和受孕是完全可能的。不过他们的后代不大可能有繁殖能力。"

(中国日报网站译)

 
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