DNA tests confirm morocco's mule miracle
Morocco, Local, 11/8/2002

DNA tests have confirmed that a Moroccan mule did give birth to a foal end of August in a small hamlet in the region of Oulmes, 80 kilometers away from Fez.

Veterinary experts say the foal's father was a donkey and its mother a true mule. The discovery defies scientific wisdom because mules are supposed to be sterile.

Mules are hybrids - a cross between two species - in this case, the horse and the donkey.

They are almost always unable to breed because their genetic make-up is so unusual.

Veterinarians from the Society for the Protection of Animals of North Africa (Spana) visited the animal and conducted tests which confirmed that the mule is the mother.

"The blood results from the foal indicate that the father was a donkey, a veterinary told the BBC.

"It shows that the foal inherited a mixture of horse and donkey chromosomes via the mother's ovum."

Some experts are still skeptical about the birth. John Pycock, a specialist in equine reproduction at the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, told the British TV channel such a birth would be "astounding."

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