Entanglement, autonomy and the co-production of landscapes: relational geographies for free-roaming ‘feral’ donkeys (Equus asinus) in a rapidly changing world

Feral Donkey Distribution and Ecological Impacts in a Hyper-Arid Region

“…Crossing highways and roads was also documented in this study, which increases the likelihood of vehicle–animal collisions in the region. Although there is no authentic documentation of human–donkey accidents in the Arabian peninsula and particularly in Saudi Arabia, it is documented in other countries that feral donkeys are responsible for almost 300 human deaths/year [ 39 ].…”

“…Our study adds evidence to the detrimental impacts of feral donkeys and calls for urgent actions to control the presence of feral donkeys in the region. These actions include castration, adoption/removal, and eradication [ 39 ]. However, castration and removal might not be efficient in controlling the donkeys because castrated individuals can still roam large area and continue to destroy habitats for at least 10 years before they die.…”

Reimagining landscape: Materiality, decoloniality, and creativity

“…Landscapes as co-fabricated between more-than-human bodies and a lively earth have turned attention to ‘the processes and excesses of ‘livingness’ in a more-than-human world’ (Whatmore, 2006: 604; see also e.g. Barua, 2014; Clancy et al, 2021; Connolly, 2017, 2020; Davies, 2021; Garlick, 2019; Geros, 2021; Marijnen, 2021). Crucially, this landscape research explores the entanglements of human habitation and environmental interaction by attending closely to the materialities of landscape.…”

“…The politics of environmental change is increasingly the focus of work on the more-than-human and political ecologies in landscape (e.g. Barua, 2014; Brettell, 2016; Clancy et al, 2021; Connolly, 2017, 2020; Davies, 2021; Duggan, 2021; Garlick, 2019; Geros, 2021; Hubbard and Wilkinson, 2019; Huddart and Huggan, 2022; Jamieson, 2017; Marijnen, 2021; McConnell and Saladyga, 2020; Ojeda et al, 2021; Olden, 2017; Ray, 2016; Sutherland, 2021; Youngs, 2020). Rapid environmental change is increasingly affecting landscape futures, and this ‘not only puts immediate pressure on identifying alternative futures for landscapes but also threatens to unsettle patterns of attachment to the landscape’ (Bartolini and DeSilvey, 2021: 8).…”