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Zonkeys in
Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and
< ...
, Mexico are
donkeys The domestic donkey is a hoofed mammal in the family Equidae, the same family as the horse. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a ...
(also known as
burro The domestic donkey is a hoofed mammal in the family Equidae, the same family as the horse. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a ...
s in Mexico and the Southwestern United States; ''burro'' is the Spanish word for a small donkey) painted with fake zebra stripes, so that tourists will pay the owner to appear in souvenir photos with them. They should not be confused with zebroids, zebra hybrids which are also sometimes called zonkeys.


History

In 1978, journalist Laurie Becklund reported in the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'' that, according to the burro cart owners of that time, the practice began in the mid-1930s after gambling was prohibited in Mexico and Tijuana's Agua Caliente Casino was closed. The casino had had two plain burro carts at its entrance and tourists often took photographs with them. Entrepreneurs created and brought similar carts to the shopping areas on and around Avenida Revolución and charged tourists to take pictures seated in them. The entrepreneurs added elements that they thought that tourists would consider to be typically Mexican to the carts, such as painting of scenery and cacti, and
serapes The serape or jorongo is a long blanket-like shawl/cloak, often brightly colored and fringed at the ends, worn in Mexico, especially by men. The spelling of the word sarape (or zarape) is the accepted form in Mexico and in other Spanish-spe ...
. Approximately in the late 1940s, one of the over 20 cart owners – which owner exactly is disputed – added stripes to his burro in order to create more impressive photographs, which were sepia or black-and-white during that era, and thus white or naturally colored donkeys did not show up well. A 2013 report by
National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
stated that the number of zonkeys in Downtown Tijuana had shrunk to three, due to the decline in American visitors after 9/11 and hours-long waits to return to the U.S. from Tijuana. At that time Tijuana preservation Uni2 had begun efforts to help ensure that the zonkey tradition continued on Tijuana's streets.


Zonkeys in Tijuana culture

Zonkeys have become an iconic symbol or image representing Tijuana, in particular its origins as a place providing entertainment, sometimes unusual, to American visitors. The Council of Baja California Cultural Heritage had declared zonkey to be part of the state's cultural heritage, although this was later rejected by a court in 2017, largely due to concerns of animal-rights activists. The city has a professional basketball team whose name is inspired by the zonkey as a mascot: the
Tijuana Zonkeys The Tijuana Zonkeys are a Mexican professional basketball team based in Tijuana, Baja California. The Zonkeys are part of the Circuito de Baloncesto de la Costa del Pacífico (CIBACOPA). They play their home games at the Auditorio Academia Zonkey ...
.


See also

*
Zebroid A zebroid is the offspring of any cross between a zebra and any other equine to create a hybrid. In most cases, the sire is a zebra stallion. Offspring of a donkey sire and zebra dam are called a donkra and offspring of a horse sire and a z ...
*
Tijuana Zonkeys The Tijuana Zonkeys are a Mexican professional basketball team based in Tijuana, Baja California. The Zonkeys are part of the Circuito de Baloncesto de la Costa del Pacífico (CIBACOPA). They play their home games at the Auditorio Academia Zonkey ...


References


External links

{{Commonscat, Tijuana Zebras
Tijuana Zebras on Flickr
Zebra Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: the Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. zebr ...
Working animals Animals in entertainment Animal mascots City mascots Mexican mascots