In 1978, journalist
Laurie Becklund reported in the
Los Angeles Times that, according to the burro cart owners of that time, the practice began in the mid-1930s after gambling was prohibited in Mexico and Tijuana's
Agua Caliente Casino was closed. The casino had two plain burro carts at its entrance and tourists often took photographs with them. Entrepreneurs created and brought similar carts to the shopping areas on and around
Avenida Revolución, charging tourists to take pictures seated in them. The entrepreneurs added elements that they thought that tourists would consider to be typically Mexican to the carts, such as painting of scenery and cacti, and
serapes. Approximately in the late 1940s, one of the over 20 cart owners – which owner exactly is disputed – added stripes to his burro in order to create more impressive photographs, which were sepia or black-and-white during that era, A 2013 report by
National Public Radio stated that the number of zonkeys in Downtown Tijuana had shrunk to three, due to the decline in American visitors after 9/11 and hours-long waits to return to the U.S. from Tijuana. At that time Tijuana preservation Uni2 had begun efforts to help ensure that the zonkey tradition continued on Tijuana's streets. ==Zonkeys in Tijuana culture==