About donkeys

[Mo34]

I missed the Donkey thread!

I love Donkeys I'm around them all the time. They are indeed very different to horses. More intelligent and clever, love to play, and more sensitive I would say. There also stronger and have the fight mechanism rather than horses which have the natural flight mechanism.

When I first went to the sanctuary one for the donkeys had died and whilst there was a wait for the body to be removed the other donkeys gathered round him in a circle to strangely mourn.

[genovese]

Oh Mo that's quite beautiful about the mourning.

More intelligent and clever, love to play, and more sensitive I would say

That's really interesting.
When I go visit & feed the ponies (videos in Horses thread) they can get very territorial so I try to keep them distanced to avoid any argy bargy.
But any of the them solo and they're incredibly friendly, playful and they'll happily let me stroke them for ages.
Do donkeys have that similar argy bargy hierarchy, or are they okay when they're in a group and food becomes available?

[Percy]

Originally Posted by Mo34

I missed the Donkey thread!

I love Donkeys I'm around them all the time. They are indeed very different to horses. More intelligent and clever, love to play, and more sensitive I would say. There also stronger and have the fight mechanism rather than horses which have the natural flight mechanism.

When I first went to the sanctuary one for the donkeys had died and whilst there was a wait for the body to be removed the other donkeys gathered round him in a circle to strangely mourn.

Aw, my mum's a huge donkey person.

[Sea]

I have met firsthand a lot of very mistreated donkeys while I worked in Africa. I reached out to pet them, and they cowered because they expect to be beaten It's heart-breaking. Some people really value their donkeys, but a lot of folk simply treat them like a vehicle and flog them until they drop to their knees. It is terribly sad. Another horrible donkey fact is that their is now a burgeoning skin trade due to demand from the Chinese market, and a lot of donkeys in Africa are stolen and slaughtered simply to be skinned. These are sensitive and hard-working animals, it isn't right. There is an excellent charity called The Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust that do a lot to help sick and mistreated donkeys in The Gambia, and their stories are often super sad :-(

I sponsor donkeys and I take my mum to see them at The Donkey Sanctuary every year. I wish there was more that could be done.

[Mo34]

Originally Posted by Percy

Aw, my mum's a huge donkey person.

Originally Posted by Sea

I have met firsthand a lot of very mistreated donkeys while I worked in Africa. I reached out to pet them, and they cowered because they expect to be beaten It's heart-breaking. Some people really value their donkeys, but a lot of folk simply treat them like a vehicle and flog them until they drop to their knees. It is terribly sad. Another horrible donkey fact is that their is now a burgeoning skin trade due to demand from the Chinese market, and a lot of donkeys in Africa are stolen and slaughtered simply to be skinned. These are sensitive and hard-working animals, it isn't right. There is an excellent charity called The Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust that do a lot to help sick and mistreated donkeys in The Gambia, and their stories are often super sad :-(

I sponsor donkeys and I take my mum to see them at The Donkey Sanctuary every year. I wish there was more that could be done.

I can imagine how damaged these poor beasts are, the people are sadly poor themselves and uneducated.
Yes I've read about the skin trade in Donkeys, its truly is awful

There still issues even close to home - Ireland has a donkey crisis, admitidly I don't think the abuse or neglect is akin to Africa but still very sad.

https://www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.u...sis-in-ireland

[Sea]

Originally Posted by biscuits

Killer whales make me feel the same thing. I love killer whales though. It's one of those things where I had an overthinking session about which animals I wouldn't want to be and horses, donkeys, killer whales and polar bears topped my list.

I'm curious why you wouldn't want to be a killer whale? The others I 'get,' but not the killer whale.

[Sea]

Originally Posted by Mo34

I can imagine how damaged these poor beasts are, the people are sadly poor themselves and uneducated.
Yes I've read about the skin trade in Donkeys, its truly is awful
There still issues even close to home - Ireland has a donkey crisis, admitidly I don't think the abuse or neglect is akin to Africa but still very sad.

Yeah, the neglect can be as bad in Europe, but probably not as widespread. And yes a lot is due to poverty and lack of education, although I do always wonder why one has to be educated to treat animals humanely - it's a living creature, just like us. I think everyone must recognise that deep down at some level, surely

[Mo34]

Originally Posted by genovese

Oh Mo that's quite beautiful about the mourning.



That's really interesting.
When I go visit & feed the ponies (videos in Horses thread) they can get very territorial so I try to keep them distanced to avoid any argy bargy.
But any of the them solo and they're incredibly friendly, playful and they'll happily let me stroke them for ages.
Do donkeys have that similar argy bargy hierarchy, or are they okay when they're in a group and food becomes available?

Sorry Geno I seem to have not seen your post yesterday!

Donkeys are fairly peaceful and avoid major conflict as they can do each other a lot of harm. I find also there not as flighty as horses (infact donkeys are often put with horses to calm ) . Males do have the territorial instinct and females do have a hierachy but I would say their more calm and stoic than horses. There play can be frisky mind you! and they are used in North America esp as guard animals - they naturally hate caninies such as foxes, coyotes etc.. (jasper at the sanctuary is mellow but goes into into full on crazy mode at the sight of a fox!).

The main difference between horses and donks is the fight and flight mechanism. A donkey will stand its ground and fight, a horse might kick or rear but its instinct generally is to run. Donkeys have evolved differently - have shorter legs and are more muscular so fight is thier weapon of choice, and a donkey kick is no joke.

[Mo34]

Originally Posted by Sea

Yeah, the neglect can be as bad in Europe, but probably not as widespread. And yes a lot is due to poverty and lack of education, although I do always wonder why one has to be educated to treat animals humanely - it's a living creature, just like us. I think everyone must recognise that deep down at some level, surely

Yes I wonder that too. You would hope that deep down everyone would recognise that but humans aren't always the nicest of species sadly.

[genovese]

^^ That's so interesting, thank you
I'm still making friends with the horses in the field, learning each of their personalities etc. When the miniatures give a back kick it's more cute than anything. The bigger boys can really go for it though.
I still want to find some donkeys someplace and give a helping hand in return for spending time with them. Just standing watching the horses is incredibly calming in itself. Being with donkeys seems even more so.