No wild life for zebra that prefers company of donkeys

Mwende Masengo grazes her donkeys and a zebra in Kisiio village, Kitui, yesterday. [Stephen Nzioka, Standard]

Residents of Kisiio village in Mutomo sub-county, Kitui County are puzzled by a zebra that has joined a herd of donkeys.

Mwende Masengo, who has been grazing and watering the female zebra now nicknamed “Mwiitu” (a young lady) said the animal  joined her herd of three donkeys three years ago.

"It came running and when it reached where my three donkeys were tethered adjacent to my home, it stopped and joined them. We thought it was just passing by but it stayed on,” said Mwende 

She said the zebra drew a lot of attention from her neighbours and passes-by, some who associated it with superstition. “At first I had no peace, people would gossip that it was a ghost and avoided me. I lost many friends,” she said.

It took some time for the Zebra to get used to human company. “When it came no one would draw close to it. But now it has learnt to stay close to people, although you cannot tether it like the donkeys,” she said.

In the three years the animal has been around, Mwende says she contacted the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) but no action has been taken. The family now says feeding the zebra alongside the donkeys is getting too expensive. 

“It’s expensive to keep this wild animal, feeding and watering it when it is not bringing us any benefits. Let KWS assist in domesticating it further to plough and fetch water from River Athi,” said Mwende.

The family says it has paid thousands of shillings as compensation after the zebra strayed into neighbours' farms. “It feeds all day long and drinks 20 litres of water per day,” said Masengo Malusa.

Because it cannot be tethered, the zebra is now being blamed for destroying water storage systems and farms and has attracted a lot of enemies in the village.

“It has destroyed water tanks and invaded neighbours' vegetable farms. At some point people got so angry they wanted kill it but I stopped them," said Malusa.

Despite its closeness with the donkeys, the zebra has not shown any interest in mating with them.