Zee the Zonkey

A lot of time and consideration went into Zee’s rescue.  He’s a zonkey: a cross between a donkey and a zebra, a byproduct of the hideous canned hunt industry in Texas and Oklahoma. They are bred to make money with no thought for the well-being of the animal, nor the safety of people who adopt them. Zee is an incredibly interesting case and a poster boy for why this hybrid should never be bred. His story gives us an important opportunity to educate the public on why it needs to stop.

We were asked to take Zee by a woman who spent a lot of money to save him from an abusive situation. Serious medical issues made it necessary for her to find him a new home. She wanted him to have the best and Skydog is in a unique position to give that to him.

Zonkeys lean toward the zebra side of their DNA in temperament. They are wild animals that do not make good pets as they can be aggressive, dangerous, confused, unpredicatable, and untrainable. The babies are adorable, but buyers often don’t realize the danger until they’ve grown and hurt someone, a child, or other animals. Then, through no fault of their own, they are euthanized or discarded into the slaughter pipeline. They are also “exotic” animals which requires specialized medical care with some astronomical veterinary bills. 

Zee started out in Malibu, where we hoped he would befriend Ziggy the Zebra. Three-year-old Ziggy pushed everyone around until he met nine-year-old Zee. We hoped the older zonkey might teach some manners to the younger, but Zee didn’t have any manners himself. They had fun at first. It was extraordinary watching them together with their striped bottoms and mohawks. We monitored them closely, separating them when the play grew too rough. We discouraged any attempts Zee made to mount Ziggy, a sign of dominance.

One afternoon, I opened the gate for Zee and he shot out hotter than usual. He went straight at Ziggy with an energy that was different - and not in a good way. It looked like he wanted to take the young zebra down, so I intervened. While trying to move Ziggy safely back into his corral, I was accidentally run over as zebra tried to get away from Zee. I was more shocked than hurt, but managed to get them apart and shut the gates. We added some solid panels so they couldn't see each other.

Zee’s aggression made me suspicious, so I spent an entire hour zooming my camera lens in to see what he had between his hind legs. Two fully descended testicles came into focus. We hadn’t known he wasn’t gelded when we agreed to take him. His previous owner also didn’t know he was in tact. He was mostly kept alone or with an old horse he got a long with, so he never displayed studdy behavior.  So off Zee went to be gelded and Steve Egner drove him up to Oregon, where our experienced staff know how to handle the wildest equines. With the help of the hydraulic chute, he gets all the care he needs without anyone getting hurt. We have several wild zonkeys living wonderful lives up there with all the space and freedom they need to be happy.

Zee’s absence of social skills made us think of Boomer. Our attempts to put him with other horses had all failed. He’s a loner, who found happiness in a pen all to himself and doesn’t want anyone else in there with him. It was a wild idea, but we thought maybe he would see a kindred spirit in Zee, but they just tried to bite each other over the fence. Then we thought of another social misfit, who might be the perfect fit and hit the jackpot!

Henry was rescued from a kill pen. Starvation left him food aggressive, obstreperous, and kind of mean. He started out in Malibu where he wrought havoc chasing all the geldings and trying to mount all the mares. We sent him to Oregon to join a herd of boys, but he pinned his ears back most of the time. He did settle in, but never made a friend of his own, so we gave it a try.

Their first meeting didn’t look entirely positive. Zee tried to dominate, but Henry set good boundaries right off the bat. Every time I passed the pen, they were playing in a spectacular way, rearing, chasing, getting down on their knees to wrestle. There was no doubt that the two of them were having a lot of fun. They’ve become close friends, so affectionate with each other, and their bond has entirely changed their behavior toward the other horses in their herd.

#skydogzee  #skydoghenry

American Mustangs and Burros Need Your Help

In addition to supporting our work by donating, becoming a patron on Patreon, or sponsoring a Skydog, there are several important pieces of legislation to protect American equines currently moving through Congress. It only takes a few minutes to contact your Rep and two Senators to urge them to support these bills. You can Contact Members of Congress by calling the Capitol Switchboard (202) 224-3121‬, submitting contact forms on their individual websites, or sending one email to all three simultaneously at www.democracy.io

Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act of 2025 (H.R.1661 in the House and S.775 in the Senate). This bill would amend the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, commonly known as the “Farm Bill”. There are several important provisions for animals in that omnibus federal law, including the Cat and Dog Meat Trade Prohibition Act. It is currently illegal to slaughter, transport, possess, purchase, sell, or donate dogs and cats, or their parts, for human consumption. The SAFE Act would extend the ban to equines and shut down the slaughter pipeline that sends some 20,000 American horses and donkeys to savagely monstrous deaths in foreign slaughterhouses every year.

The Wild Horse & Burro Protection Act of 2023 (H. R. 4356) The bill would eliminate the use of helicopters in rounding up wild horses and burros, and require a study into alternative methods for humanely gathering the animals.

Ejiao Act of 2025 (H.R. 5544). To ​​ban the sale or transportation of ejiao, a gelatin made from boiling donkey skins, or products containing ejiao in interstate or foreign commerce, which brutally kills millions of donkeys primarily for beauty products and Chinese medicine.

See our How to Help menu for other actions to ban zebra hunting at US canned hunt ranches and stop production of Premarin & other PMU drugs.