When you purchase through links on our situation , we may make an affiliate commission . Here ’s how it work .
Donkeys , also called burros and ass , are found throughout the macrocosm . They are members of the Equidae family , which also includeshorsesandzebras . They look a lot like their equid cousins , but have long , floppy ears and tend to be stockier than horses or zebras .
How big are donkeys?
There are three principal types of donkeys : wild , feral and domesticated . uncivilised Equus asinus typically farm to around 49 inches ( 125 centimeters ) from hoof to shoulder and weigh around 551 Sudanese pound . ( 250 kilograms ) .
tame donkeys vary in size , calculate on how they are bred . There are eight unlike breeds of domesticated donkeys , according to the Oklahoma State University.(Breeds are line of descent in which certain traits are keep or eliminated through artificial selection . ) On average , tame domestic ass are somewhat smaller than their wild full cousin , typically weighing from 400 to 500 pounds ( 180 to 225 kg ) and measuring 36 to 48 inch ( 92 to 123 atomic number 96 ) from hoof to shoulder .
The little domestic ass strain is the miniature donkey , according to the University of Michigan’sAnimal Diversity internet . They grow to only around 36 inch ( 92 cm ) from hoof to shoulder and weigh less than 400 pound . ( 180 kilogram ) . gigantic stock , which is the largest donkey breed , grows to be 56 in ( 143 cm ) from hoof to shoulder and weighs about 950 pound . ( 430 kilo ) .
Donkeys have long, floppy ears and tend to be stockier than their equine cousins: horses and zebras.
Where do donkeys live?
Wild Equus asinus are found in comeuppance and savannas in northern Africa from Morocco to Somalia , in the Arabian Peninsula and in the Middle East . One coinage , the kiang or Tibetan wild fuck , is found inChina , northern part of Pakistan , India , Nepal and Bhutan , and in northerly parts of Pakistan .
Domesticated Equus asinus , on the other helping hand , are found all over the mankind , but they prefer dry , tender area . The Abyssinian Equus asinus , for example , is bred in Ethiopia , concord to Oklahoma State University , while the Anatolia donkey is bred in Turkey .
What are donkeys' habits?
Male donkeys are called jacks and females are called jennets or jennies . Donkeys are very societal and usually survive in a mathematical group name a herd . A uncivilized ruck is unremarkably run by one jack and includes several jenny . Some larger wild herds have been found that include several males . As long as the additional male are subservient to the rife male , everything depart smoothly . donkey do n’t seem to organize strong social bonds , however . Wild herds often discover up and reform with new fellow member on a even basis .
— First substantiation of donkey polo in ancient China found in noblewoman ’s grave
— Emu and domestic ass downfall in love
Kulans (Equus hemionus kulan) are wild donkeys that are primarily found in Turkmenistan.
— double heading : Bronze Age donkey burial
donkey rest during the hottest part of the sidereal day . They are more active during the former break of day and evenings , when they jaunt and graze with their herd .
Domestic domestic ass are typically used as ring animals or for milk , according to the Global Invasive Species Database . Sometimes donkey are trained to protect other stock from predator , as they typically attack when peril and will guard other animals if they are bonded to them , accord to the Donkey Sanctuary of Canada .
Wild burros roam Custer State Park in South Dakota.
What do donkeys eat?
Donkeys are grazers that typically like to eat grass , though they also feed shrubs and desert works . rather of shoot down at forage with their teeth , donkey take hold of the flora with their lips , pull it into their sassing , then rip it with their matt teeth and moil it down for eat up .
Donkeys are ravenous eater . A donkey can consume as much as 6,000 pound ( 2,722 kg ) of food per yr , according to the Global Invasive Species Database . This monumental amount is worry when it comes to feral donkeys , which can move into habitats and take food from the local beast .
How do donkeys reproduce?
Just as donkeys do n’t seem to care who ’s in their ruck , they also do n’t seem to be picky about who they breed with . In addition to other donkeys , they will cover with horses and zebras , producing intercrossed progeny . A jackass that mates with a female horse will produce an animal called a mule , while a jennet and a male horse cavalry produce a hinny , according to theUniversity of Miami . When a zebra and a domestic ass mate , the termination is call a zebroid , zonkey or zeedonk . crossbreed are almost always sterile and can not bring about offspring of their own .
Female domestic ass have a gestation period stop of around 12 months , and infant donkeys are ring foal . Foals weigh between 19 and 30 pound sterling ( 8.6 to 13.6 kilogram ) at nativity and can stand and nurse just 30 minutes after nascence . At 5 months , foals are weaned and at 2 years they are sometime enough to copulate . female typically give parentage to a new foal each twelvemonth .
Donkey taxonomy and classification
realm : Animalia Subkingdom : Bilateria Infrakingdom : Deuterostomia Phylum : Chordata Subphylum : Vertebrata Infraphylum : Gnathostomata Superclass : Tetrapoda Class : Mammalia Subclass : Theria Infraclass : Eutheria monastic order : Perissodactyla Family : Equidae Genus : Equus
Species :
Equus asinus — burro , donkey , ass
A zedonk is a hybrid offspring of a donkey and a zebra. They are also called zonkeys.
Equus hemippus — Syrian wild fundament , achdari
Equus khur — Amerind wild fucking , khur
Equus africanus — African wild fanny
Subspecies :
genus Equus africanus africanus — Nubian barbaric ass
Equus africanus somaliensis — Somalian tempestuous ass
Equus hemionus — Asiatic wild ass , onager , kulan
Equus hemionus hemionus — Mongolian baseless ass
Equus hemionus kulan — kulan , Turkmenistani ballista
Equus hemionus onager — Iranian onager
Equus kiang — Tibetan tempestuous ass , kiang
Equus kiang holdereri — Eastern kiang
Equus kiang kiang — Western Equus kiang
Equus kiang polyodon — Southern kiang
Source : Integrated Taxonomic Information System(ITIS )
Are donkeys endangered?
While domestic donkeys are in no scourge of experimental extinction , the same can not be said for hazardous asses . According to theInternational Union for Conservation of Nature(IUCN ) , the African idle butt is critically endangered , with only 23 to 200 grownup leave . Asian wild asses are classified as near threatened , with a population of around 28,000 .
Additional resources
There are millions of feral donkeys living across Australia , you’re able to find out more about their environmental shock by downloadinga fact sheetfrom the Australian Department of Sustainability , Environment , Water , Population and Communities . acquire about the origins of Equus asinus breed from theDonkey Sanctuaryin the U.K. , and meet the smallest of these breeds — miniature donkeys — at the internet site of Oklahoma State University ’s Division of Agriculture .
This article was updated on Feb. 4 , 2022 by Live Science senior writer Mindy Weisberger .
Bibliography
" Breeds of Livestock , Department of Animal Science . " list of Donkey Breeds - Breeds of Livestock , Department of Animal Science , Oklahoma State University , http://afs.okstate.edu/breeds/other/donkey/.
Huggins , Britton . " Equus Asinus ( ASS ) . " Animal Diversity Web , University of Michigan Museum of Zoology , http://animaldiversity.org / write up / Equus_asinus/#physical_description .
GISD , Invasive Species Specialist Group , http://www.issg.org / database / species / ecology.asp?si=639 .
" Donkey Myths . " Donkey Myths , The Donkey Sanctuary of Canada , https://www.thedonkeysanctuary.ca / information / donkey - myths .
Equus Hybrids , University of Miami College of Arts and Sciences : Biology , http://www.bio.miami.edu / dana / dox / equus.html .
" Integrated Taxonomic Information System - Report . " ITIS , http://www.itis.gov / servlet / SingleRpt / SingleRpt?search_topic = TSN&search_value=180690 .
Moehlman ( Columbia University EcoHealth Alliance ) , Patricia , et al . " The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . " IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , 8 Sept. 2014,https://www.iucnredlist.org / species/7949/45170994 .
" About Donkeys . " The Donkey Sanctuary , https://www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk / what - we - do / knowledge - and - advice / about - donkeys .
