A zoo in northern Mexico recently welcomed an unusual animal into the world, a rare creature known as a zonkey.

Zonkeys are a crossbreed between zebras and donkeys, and their rarity is marked by the fact that it had long been assumed that the chromosomes of the two different species could not mix.

The incompatibility of the zonkey's chromosomes will lead to it having difficulty reproducing later in life.

The newborn zonkey, named Khumba, has black and white banded legs like a zebra, but has the face, ears and fur of a donkey.

The baby zonkey was born at Reynosa Zoo in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas on April 21, according to the Fox News Latino affiliate WJBK.

Although zonkeys are unusual, they are not unheard of. Last year in Italy a zonkey named Ippo was born at a wildlife center for neglected or unwanted animals after its father, a full-blooded zebra rescued from a failing zoo, was able to bypass a fence separating it from a female donkey.

According to various news reports, other zonkeys have been born in China, Germany, Georgia, Japan and the US.