Zebra and a miniature donkey mate ... and the result is a mini-zonkey foal. A what?

PALM CITY — At less than a month old, Zing walks around the fenced pen picking up and chewing on pine cones, munching on hay and rolling around on the warm sand.

The foal is curious, going up to the fence to be petted by Thomas Cook, the farm manager, but Zing doesn't stray too far from his mother.

The miniature zonkey was born July 1 and is the third born at a CoaSTable Ranch. He is the son of Zola, a female zebra, and Dominic, a male miniature donkey.

Zing looks like Zola from his legs down, with black-and-white stripes. His top half looks like dad Dominic, with short, soft tan fur.

What is a miniature zonkey?

Whether you've heard the term "zedonks" "zebrass" or "zonkey," just know it's all the same thing — a crossbreed of a zebra and donkey.

A zedonk is the result of a female zebra and male donkey mating; a zonkey is from a zebra father and donkey mother.

“There’s no way I’m calling my animals zedonks,” Cook said about why they refer to their animal as miniature zonkeys.

Most miniature zonkeys have zebra stripes most prominent on their legs and tan or brown fur with light stripes appearing throughout their bodies as they mature.

While zebras and donkeys can mate and breed a zonkey, zonkeys are unable to produce offspring with one another. Due to their uneven number of chromosomes, the animals typically are sterile. This is common in other interspecies, such as mules.

“Mini zonkeys are usually not able to be produced due to their chromosome structures not lining up between their zebra dam and mini donkey stud,” said CoaSTable breeder Rob Schweiger. “Consequently, the mares have not been able to conceive or carry a fetus to term.”

Their lifespan in the wild is similar to a zebra's, 15-25 years. In captivity, it is unknown because of the lack of information on miniature zonkeys.

CoaSTable never planned to breed miniature zonkeys.

In 2015, their male zebra Zerox was killed by a diamondback rattlesnake and Zola, the sole zebra left, became depressed. CoaSTable ended up putting all the animals together, and Zola and Dominic gravitated toward each other and ended with an offspring.

Can you buy a miniature zonkey?

Yes, but you need to have glowing recommendations and $10,000 to spare.

Plans are for Zola the zebra have only one more litter after Zing. In the wild, a zebra could have up to six or seven litters, but CoaSTable isn't planning to get rich off of these creatures.

“We're not doing this for money, we don't need the money,” Cook said. “We do it just because they're beautiful animals."

The ranch has received dozens of applications to buy a miniature zonkey. But only two would-be buyers meet the requirements such as having stellar veterinarian recommendations and A-plus ratings at the ranch the miniature zonkey would call home.

Zing will be headed to his forever home — at Touchstone Ranch in Dublin, Texas — in four to six months, whenever he’s weaned.

“If you’re not getting A-plus ratings on your ranch like we are, then you’re not getting an animal from me,” Cook said.

Gianna Montesano is TCPalm’s trending reporter. You can contact her at gianna.montesano@tcpalm.com, 772-409-1429, or follow her on Twitter @gonthescene.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Mini-zonkey, a miniature donkey and zebra, born in Palm City