Egyptian zoo accused of painting donkey to look like zebra

Mahmoud Sarhan visited a Cairo zoo and saw a zebra that did not look quite right. (Mahmoud Sarhan)

Zebra or donkey? The answer isn't so black and white.

A zoo in Egypt rejected accusations it painted a donkey to pass it off as a zebra after a photo of the animal in question went viral.

Mahmoud Sarhan recently visited Cairo’s International Garden municipal park when he spotted something he thought was not entirely right with two zebras in a pen. He shared the photos on Facebook and they were widely shared.

At first look, the animal appears to be a zebra. But many social media users have noted that upon closer inspection, the animal has long floppy ears instead of the more rounded ears of a zebra.

Some critics noted the "zebra/donkey" had unusual smudges on its face, and did not have clean stripes.

Local veterinarians weighed in on the images with mixed opinions.

Mohamed Sultan, the zoo’s director, denied the accusations that the animals in the pen are imposters, the BBC reported.

This is not first time a zoo has been accused of trying to fool visitors.

In Gaza, a zoo painted two donkeys to look like zebras in 2009 while another zoo was accused of putting stuffed animals on display because of a shortage of animals.