Science and Knowledge of Free‐Roaming Donkeys—A Critical Review

Abstract

The emergence of free-roaming donkey (Equus asinus) populations globally has brought novel challenges for conservationists, land managers, and those concerned about animal welfare. We provide a review of the scientific literature pertaining to the place and role of free-roaming donkeys from 1950 until 2020. Using quantitative and qualitative techniques, namely categorical and thematic analysis and critical discourse analysis, to review >100 articles, we critically examine the logics and rationales that are used to either support or denounce donkey presence in particular landscapes and discuss their place and role in different ecological contexts. Free-roaming donkeys are largely understudied and clouded by dichotomous points of view, different conservation agendas, and the presence of other species in donkey habitat. There is an important need for more in-depth, site-specific studies on free-roaming donkeys that draw on tools and techniques from across the social and natural sciences. Such efforts would offer a richer, more holistic, and comprehensive picture of free-roaming donkeys that consider both human and animal perspectives and the wider environment. This has important implications for generating long-term sustainable management solutions for free-roaming donkeys.

Browsers or Grazers? New Insights into Feral Burro Diet Using a Non-Invasive Sampling and Plant DNA Metabarcoding Approach

“…Burros are highly adaptable. They are found in a variety of ecosystems from tropical islands to deserts [ 11 ], responding to different habitats with changes in their social organization [ 61 ] and diet [ 31 ]. Previous studies of burro diet in the United States have only been conducted in the desert habitats of California and Arizona because those are the areas in which burros are the most numerous, with no previous studies examining burro diets in less arid habitats such as Utah.…”

“…Currently, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service manage feral burros and feral horses ( E. caballus ) in specific management areas. Despite their long-term persistence, the ecological roles feral burros play in shaping western ecosystems have been largely understudied compared to native ungulates [ 11 ]. Due to their African wild ass ancestry and hindgut fermentation digestion, burros are adapted to arid and low-productivity environments, enabling them to tolerate adverse nutritional conditions and consume low-quality plants efficiently [ 12 , 13 ].…”

“…Feral horses tend to receive more attention than feral burros, resulting in a lack of information on burro ecology [ 11 ]. In the United States there are approximately 14,000 burros on BLM-managed lands [ 26 ], with over 2 million feral burros estimated to be in Australia [ 27 ].…”

Means of Livelihood, Clean Environment to Women Empowerment: The Multi-Faceted Role of Donkeys

“…This evidence might be concealed; for instance, if there are other, more important tasks to attend to when coping with a crisis. As a result, records documenting the contributions of working equids might be lost or forgotten [ 38 ].…”

“…This has important implications for introduced free-roaming donkeys, which are frequently classified as non-native unnatural animals and treated as such. Modern conservation efforts focus on a variety of objectives, such as maximizing biodiversity, safeguarding a specific species or assemblage, preserving or restoring ecosystem services, or re-establishing a former biological community [ 38 ]. Research shows that the selective feeding ability of donkeys encourages the conservation of certain plant and insect species which have declined due to intensive agricultural practices.…”