Dealing with Donkeys

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Prolonged or persistent fear can be a serious compromise to an animal's welfare and can result in depression, chronic fatigue, restlessness and anorexia [31]. Female donkeys scored significantly lower in the test than males and the three donkeys that consistently had a negative score in the avoidance tests were all female.

Gender differences in emotional reactivity have been identified in horses, with mares being more easily panicked and aggressive than geldings [32] ; our findings suggest similar gender differences in donkeys. This study has confirmed that working donkeys have a large behavioural repertoire and identified some behaviours which lack diurnal consistency in their expression. Few behaviours varied significantly across the test days indicating that time of day has a greater impact on behaviour observed than the day itself.

This should be taken into consideration in future observational studies. The authors would like to thank the Brooke for supporting this project, Brooke Pakistan staff in Lahore for their assistance, and all the owners who allowed their donkeys to be used in this study. We would also like to thank the academic editor and anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback on the earlier version of this manuscript. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript.

National Center for Biotechnology Information , U. Published online Jul Regan , 1 Jo Hockenhull , 1 Joy C. Pritchard , 2 , 3 Avril E. Waterman-Pearson , 1 and Helen R. Author information Article notes Copyright and License information Disclaimer. The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. Received Aug 10; Accepted Jun This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.

This article has been cited by other articles in PMC. Abstract Background The donkey has a reputation for stoicism and its behavioural repertoire in clinical contexts is under-reported.

Introduction Donkeys working in developing countries are used for transporting both goods and people, often in extreme heat and humidity, in urban working environments where there are hazards such as heavy traffic, noise, pollution and debris. Donkey selection and acclimatisation to study environment Twenty-one working donkeys were recruited from within a 15 km catchment area of Shadara fodder market, Lahore. Behavioural observation period The ethogram used in this study see Table 1 was developed through pilot studies with working and non-working donkeys and included all possible behaviour that a donkey might display [25].

Category Behaviour Description Pen Position Back of pen Head and forelimbs in back half of pen irrespective of orientation Front of pen Head and forelimbs in front half of pen irrespective of orientation Postural Behaviours instantaneous scan sampling: Lying down Lying sternally Lying down on sternum, legs folded underneath body frame Lying laterally Lying on side with legs outstretched, head and neck may be in contact with ground Standing Standing on 4 feet Weight-bearing on all 4 limbs with no preferred loading Standing on 3 feet Weight-bearing on 3 limbs with a hind limb resting Pointing Placing a foot in a forwards position outside of the main body frame minimum 1 hoof length with reduced weight-bearing Knuckled Forwards bend of one or both fore limbs with the knee bent in front of the placed foot or fetlock joint Ear position Forwards Both ears facing forwards with ear cups fully visible when facing the donkey head-on Sideways Both ears facing sideways with ear cup orientated approximately 90 degrees laterally from forwards-facing position Backwards Both ears facing backwards with ear cups visible when standing behind the donkey Combinations Each ear in a different orientation, e.

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Dealing with a donkey's view of climate change

Avoidance tests An avoidance test was developed by adapting measures of fear in livestock [26] , [27]. Table 2 Descriptors used to score reaction to the avoidance test in working donkeys, modified from [22]. Statistical Analysis All data were converted into total number of observations of each posture or event behaviour per 10 minute observation period and per day for each donkey. Behaviour During the observation period the donkeys stood for a median min-max of High head carriage Licking and chewing Table 4 Postural and event behaviours which differed in frequency within a single day in 21 working donkeys.

Behaviour Number of observations for all time points on 2 consecutive days Median min-max Difference in frequency of observations between 10 time points across a single day Friedman ANOVA with Chi squared statistic significance, p Postural behaviours: Head shaking 0 0—12 Discussion The results of this study confirm that donkeys have an extensive behavioural repertoire, as found in previous studies [25] , although some behaviours are observed much more frequently than others.

Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank the Brooke for supporting this project, Brooke Pakistan staff in Lahore for their assistance, and all the owners who allowed their donkeys to be used in this study. John, US Virgin Islands. Appl Anim Behav Sci 60 — Moehlman PD Feral asses Equus africanus: Appl Anim Behav Sci Gonyou HW Why the study of animal behaviour is associated with the animal welfare issue. J Anim Sci McDonnell S A practical field guide to horse behaviour — The equid ethogram. The Blood Horse Inc.

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Test- retest and inter-observer reliability and consistency to familiarity of test person. On-farm testing of the behavioural response of group-housed calves towards humans: Holm S A simple sequentially rejective multiple test procedure. Scand J Stat 6: Moehlman PD Behavioural patterns and communication in feral asses Equus africanus.

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Gregory NG Anxiety and Fear. Physiology and behaviour of animal suffering. Support Center Support Center. Please review our privacy policy. Head and forelimbs in back half of pen irrespective of orientation. Head and forelimbs in front half of pen irrespective of orientation. Postural Behaviours instantaneous scan sampling: Lying on side with legs outstretched, head and neck may be in contact with ground. Placing a foot in a forwards position outside of the main body frame minimum 1 hoof length with reduced weight-bearing. Forwards bend of one or both fore limbs with the knee bent in front of the placed foot or fetlock joint.

Both ears facing forwards with ear cups fully visible when facing the donkey head-on. Both ears facing sideways with ear cup orientated approximately 90 degrees laterally from forwards-facing position. Both ears facing backwards with ear cups visible when standing behind the donkey. Each ear in a different orientation, e. Tip of ear level with or below level of base of ear, drooping downwards in any orientation.

Straight head carriage, no turning of head towards self, object or stimuli. Head is turned towards or makes contact with either side of abdomen. Tail held in a relaxed position, hanging freely in a vertical line from its body base. Tail held in a fixed position, sticking out more than 45 degrees from the vertical line. Tail held tightly against the rump in a fixed position, with tip of tail tucked between hind legs. Tail moves swiftly from its base in a side-to-side flicking manner around the hind quarters. From lying down laterally or sternally, vigorous rolling and wriggling movement of whole body over onto back.

From lying down laterally or sternally to standing, or vice versa. Forwards, backwards or sideways movement of limbs to a new position.

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Repetitive lifting and backwards dragging or scraping of pointed hoof. Temporary lifting of any limb from the ground with hesitant replacement near to its original position, often repetitive. Weight temporarily off-loaded from a fore or hind limb onto the remaining 3 limbs, accompanied by subtle body rock. Sudden lifting and forceful replacement of any limb in its original position.

Prehension of food into the mouth, with repetitive chewing and swallowing.

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Muzzle touches water source followed by at least 1 visible swallow. Movement of muzzle towards object, ground or body, followed by inhalation and movement of nostrils. Upper lip curls back to expose gums with incisors meeting, head tips back and rapidly points muzzle upwards.

Repetitive licking and chewing motion in the absence of any food in the mouth. Mouth opens wide, eyes close, head rises, tips back and shakes, lower jaw grinds and closes. Grasps object, self or another donkey in open mouth and bites or chews with single or repeated jaw closures. Vigorous rotational shake of head and neck resulting in ears flapping against sides. Rapid up and down movements of neck with successive nods of head. Quick forced exhalation of air through nostrils making an audible noise.

Series of short duration, loud inhalations, followed by a prolonged noisy exhalation. Prolonged deep inhalation with a noticeable rise of the body, followed by a short burst of expiration, then gradual release of air. Similar to a sigh, but accompanied by a monotone prolonged vocalization and often head is turned towards body part. Photo courtesy of John Genho.

Dohner says donkeys are instinctually aggressive toward canines, and are capable of dishing out crushing blows with both their front and hind legs as well as using their large teeth to bite raiding intruders. However, they cannot handle multiple canine attackers or larger predators like mountain lions, wild hogs or bears, and will rarely notify the farmer of any problems in the pasture — although their loud braying may indicate potential invasions.

Although not very popular with larger commercial farms, Dohner says donkeys are a good alternative for hobby farms or those who operate their business out of their farm. However, not every donkey will make a suitable guardian for your farm. Jacks, or intact male donkeys, are generally too rough with sheep and may harm or even kill livestock. Similarly donkeys with no prior contact with livestock may act aggressively when placed in the same pasture. Kim Barnes, operations manager at The Donkey Sanctuary of Canada , works with donkeys everyday and cautions that farmers who choose to use donkeys as livestock guardians need to know how to both handle and take proper care of them.

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