Egypt zoo accused of painting zebra stripes on donkey

NASR CITY, EGYPT (KTRK) -- A zoo in Cairo, Egypt, has been accused of trying to fool visitors by painting zebra stripes onto a donkey.

Although the zoo director insists the animal is the real thing, its large ears and smudged paint job made some visitors take a second look.

A recent high school graduate shared photos of the animal on Facebook.

"When we approached the zebra we realized that the lines were clearly painted, the paint was smudgy and his hair was nothing like that of a zebra," Mahmoud Sarhan told ABC News. "It was a normal Egyptian donkey that you see everywhere."

Sarhan was visiting with his family last week when he took the pictures.

"Stupidity in our country has reached a level that they are now painting over a donkey to make it look like a Zebra," he said in the post, which has been shared over 10,000 times. "They are so stupid they forgot to paint another layer and so it smudged on the donkey's face."

A senior official with Egypt's Central Administration for Zoos told ABC News that the animal is without a doubt fake.