The Only Zebra in Gaza

Posted by Miss Cellania in Animal, Travel & Places on July 27, 2009 at 1:39 pm


After two years of economic blockade, the zoos in Gaza are suffering. Only one has a zebra, but there’s something about this zebra that seems, um, un-zebralike.

“It’s really a painted donkey,” admitted Mahmud Berghat, the director of Marah, when asked about the creature. Making a fake zebra isn’t easy—henna didn’t work and wood paint was deemed inhumane, so they finally settled on human hair dye. “We cut its hair short and then painted the stripes,” Berghat explained behind the closed door of his office.

It did the trick—if not for zoologists, then at least for legions of Gaza schoolchildren who have never seen a real zebra. When I asked him whether anyone had ever caught the ruse, the director admitted that two sharp university students had IDed the counterfeit creature. “But don’t tell anyone,” he said. “The children love him.”

Most zoo animals have to be smuggled in through tunnels, but a zebra was too expensive for the Marah zoo. Link -via Arbroath

(image credit: Sharon Weinberger)


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COMMENT

14 comments to "The Only Zebra in Gaza"

  1. Colin
    July 27th, 2009 at 3:49 pm

    The article is horrifying.

  2. seekshelter
    July 27th, 2009 at 4:39 pm

    the article failed to mention any of their other animals... like the donkey elephant, the donkey hippo, the donkey flamingo, the donkey tiger and most importantly of all....the donkey donkey...

  3. Pete
    July 27th, 2009 at 5:44 pm

    Don't ruin it for the kids, darn university students! Oh wait, I am one.

  4. Geekazoid
    July 27th, 2009 at 5:54 pm

    When the people suffer, they do what they can do to bring happiness to others.

  5. Kalel
    July 27th, 2009 at 6:54 pm

    This zoo is dyeing for a good exhibit.

  6. FPN
    July 27th, 2009 at 11:52 pm

    Does the article mention that Israel killed most of the animals in the zoos?

  7. emmiline
    July 28th, 2009 at 12:52 am

    saddest little hair-dyed donkey ever.

  8. Mytake
    July 28th, 2009 at 1:23 am

    I hope they all see better days eventually (including the squalid, dazed-looking animals). The story is sad and wrily funny at the same time. The last pic w/ the painted donkey facing the wall like an emo and the zoo director's deadpan admission that “it’s really a painted donkey” are hilarious in a monty-pythonesque way.

  9. nate
    July 28th, 2009 at 6:17 am

    Not to get too political, but the article also doesn't mention that the zoo had been boobytrapped at one point, or that Hamas terrorists rigged up horses with explosives to kill Israeli soldiers.

    Once the poor people of Gaza and their government make the decision to accept the existence of their neighbors and not put all their resources into trying to destroy them, then they actually will have a better life and all the zebras they want.

  10. Lord'n'Savyor
    July 28th, 2009 at 9:44 am

    If we don't paint our donkeys, the terrorists win.

  11. Kalel
    July 28th, 2009 at 2:15 pm

    The point of this story isn't the larger conflict -- in which both sides have committed atrocities -- but rather, the point is the persistance of our humanity.

    This little Palestinian zoo reminds me of a story from the first Gulf War, when Israeli citizens, under the threat of Iraqi missiles, attended a scheduled concert anyway, in their gas masks.

    Humans don't just survive, we LIVE.

  12. seefish3
    July 29th, 2009 at 6:03 am

    It's a relief to know that even in the face of political and religious persecution, humans can stil exploit and cage animals for their own entertainment.

  13. ????? ????? ( ???? ????? ??? ???? )
    August 15th, 2009 at 5:46 pm

    ?????? ????? ????? ???? ???????
    ????? ??? ?? ???? ??? ??? ?????? ??????  ???? ???? ?? ???? ???? ???? ( ????? ) ?? ????? ???? ??? ?? ?? ???????  ????? ?????? ?? ??? ?????? ??? ???????? ???????? ?? ?????? ?????? ????  ?? ???? ?????? ????? ???? ?? ????? ?????? ??? ???? ??? , ????? ??????  ??? ??????? ?? ??????? ??????? ??? ??????? ??? ???? ?? ??? ?????? , ????  ??? ???? ????????? ?? ?? ?? ????? ??????? ??? ?????? ?????
    ??????? \ marah-land-zoo@hotmail.com
    0599311580 \ ??????
    ??????? \ ??? – ???? ???? ????? -????? ??????? – ??????? – ????? ????? ??????

  14. mahamoud barghot
    August 15th, 2009 at 5:50 pm

    I am the Director General Mahmoud Barghout for Zoo Fun Land, and I personally supervised by the subject and the notions of what pushed me to do that is that the children here, in Palestine, living a difficult life under occupation and it is difficult to introduce zebra here to the Strip, so Haulenakedr can find an alternative for children the ease of our children and for those trapped wanted any further questions that Emily and my mobile number
    Mobile / 0599311580
    E-mail / marah-land-zoo@hotmail.com


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