An Egyptian zoo is insisting it did not paint a pair of donkeys to look like zebras.

　　埃及一动物园坚称他们没有把两头驴子涂画成斑马。

　　Cairo’s International Garden municipal park became a target of ridicule after an Egyptian student, Mahmoud Sarhan, posted images on Facebook of the suspicious beast. Sarhan said that the zoo’s two zebras were obviously painted donkeys, a view that has since been embraced by online animal experts.

　　埃及学生马哈茂德·萨尔汗在脸书上发布了这只让人怀疑的动物的照片后，开罗国际花园市政公园被人们嘲笑。萨尔汗说，动物园里的两只斑马显然是由驴子涂了颜色扮成的，随后，网上的动物专家也认可这一看法。

　　However, zoo director Mohamed Sultan told a local radio station that his zebras are real, dismissing claims that they are just painted donkeys, according to the BBC.

　　然而，动物园负责人穆罕默德·苏丹在接受当地媒体采访时坚称那就是真的斑马，矢口否认是由驴子造假的，BBC报道。

　　This is not the first time that a zoo has painted donkeys to look like zebras. In 2009, a zoo in Gaza did the same thing, saying that it could not procure real zebras due to an Israeli blockade.

　　这并不是动物园第一次使用这种鱼目混珠的方式。2009年，由于以色列的封锁，巴勒斯坦加沙的一个动物园就把两只驴画成了斑马。

　　"The first time we used paint but it didn’t look good," the zoo’s proprietor told Reuters at the time. "The children don’t know, so they call them zebras and they are happy to see something new."

　　当时那家动物园的经营方在接受路透社采访时说：“我们第一次涂色时效果并不是太好，但孩子们不知道，他们仍以为是斑马，很高兴看到这种新的动物。”

　　In 2013, a Chinese zoo was criticized for trying to pass off a large dog as a lion.

　　2013年，中国的一家动物园试图用一只藏獒替代狮子。

　　Zebras and donkeys, despite both bearing a resemblance to horses, are different species. Donkeys are popular beasts of burden in developing countries and were domesticated millennia ago. Zebras, meanwhile, are primarily known for their black-and-white stripes.

　　“尽管斑马和驴长得都很像马，但它们是不同的物种。驴是在发展中国家流行的驮畜，几千年前就被驯化了。而斑马的主要特征是黑白条纹。”

　　Zebras also have black snouts, according to one expert. They are also larger and less donkey-like than the animal in the viral photo, and do not have smudged stripes.

　　据一位专家的说法，斑马的鼻子也是黑色的，它们比走红的图片上的动物体型更大，长的也不像驴，身上也不是这样脏脏的条纹。

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