Herd donkey

Flock of sheep with donkey (Iraq, 2008)

The herd donkey or herd protection donkey is the name given to domestic donkeys that are specifically provided to flocks of sheep or goats in order to protect them from attacks by predators.

Requirements and use

Due to their vigilance and their aggressiveness, the donkeys take on a similar function to herd guard dogs , especially towards dogs . Like these, herd donkeys were reintroduced mainly as part of the management of brown bears , wolves and lynxes . It has been shown that herd donkeys protect well against dogs and coyotes , and possibly also against lynxes and foxes. Most successful is the use of herd donkeys as a preventive measure before the respective predators habitually kill farm animals. Although donkeys show anti-predator behavior, as ungulates , like horses , they belong to the range of prey of larger predators and may even fall victim to attacks by wolves, bears or pumas.

The donkeys are cheaper to maintain than dogs because they can feed themselves on the pasture. In addition, their life expectancy is higher, so they can stay on duty as herd guard dogs longer; depending on the source, 10 to over 20 years of active use are mentioned. Their disadvantages include that they can only overlook relatively small herds of sheep or goats and that they have relatively high demands on the climate.

Herd donkeys are used successfully in the USA, among others; they are most common in Texas and Virginia. In Namibia, donkeys were used to guard cattle at the beginning of the 20th century.

Conditions in Germany

Donkeys are sensitive to moisture and rain and therefore need weather protection that is always accessible, which can also serve as a stable if it offers protection from rain, wind and cold. Due to their digestive system, they constantly need roughage such as straw, hay and wood to gnaw on. In most of the pastures in Germany, especially in northern Germany, the food would be too high in protein for donkeys. Keeping on pastures rich in protein led to metabolic diseases in the donkeys. Pastures that are too moist can cause thrush to the hooves of donkeys . Keeping donkeys in line with animal welfare requires compliance with the basic rules for keeping donkeys . There are arguments for the unsuitability of donkeys for herd protection in Germany, which are mainly due to the too protein-rich and often too wet pastures.

Funding for donkeys to protect grazing animals from wolf attacks is not granted in any of the German states. This is limited to grants for the erection of wolf-repellent electric fences and the purchase and keeping of herd guard dogs.

In Germany, at least in wolf areas, no experience has yet been made with herd donkeys. While they have been used as protective and pack animals in flocks of sheep in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg for a long time, the first private attempt to use donkeys as protective animals in the wolf area has been underway in the Diepholz district in Lower Saxony since January 2015.

literature

Helena Jones: En jämförelse av hund, lama och åsna som boskapsvaktare i Sverige ( online ; PDF, 165 kB), Uppsala 2011 (Swedish).
Roland Kalb: Bear, Lynx, Wolf - Persecuted, Exterminated, Returned , Leopold Stocker Verlag , Graz 2007, ISBN 978-3-7020-1146-8 .
Jean-Marc Landry: The use of herd guard dogs in the Swiss Alps: first experiences. KORA report No. 2 d, August 1999. ISSN 1422-5123 ( online ; PDF; 412 kB), therein:
- 3.2. Other methods of prevention. Methods without fatal consequences. Ass. Pp. 15–16,
- 3.3. Comparison between herd protection dog and other protection methods. Pp. 18-19
Jean-Marc Landry: Testing Livestock Guard Donkeys in the Swiss Alps. In: Carnivore Damage Prevention News. No. 1, March 2000, pp. 6-7 (English).
Nina Pfister: Protective behavior of herd guard dogs and donkeys. Similarities and differences. Matura thesis. Bündner Kantonsschule 2009.

Web links

Leaflet "Donkeys as herd protection animals" from Noteselhilfe eV

Individual evidence

↑ A punto: Defender de los lobos con burros? ( Memento from November 15, 2017 in the Internet Archive )
^ Herd protection with donkeys, broadcast of the MDR on April 4, 2018 ( memento of February 21, 2019 in the Internet Archive ), retrieved on February 20, 2019
↑ Online article in the Märkische Oder newspaper Nur Esel bet on Esel from August 27, 2017 , accessed on February 20, 2019.
↑ Overview of the Federal Documentation and Advice Center on Wolf from February 14, 2019, overview of the funding requirements of the federal states not directly available, report can be downloaded as a PDF file, accessed on February 20, 2019.
↑ Funding in Lower Saxony as an example , accessed on February 20, 2019.
↑ Preventive protection of farm animals from wolves. (PDF) Information brochure of the Freundeskreis Freebender Wölfe eV , accessed on February 19, 2015 .
↑ Stubborn, but also loud: donkey should chase away wolf. NDR.de, January 11, 2015, archived from the original ; Retrieved February 19, 2015 .

[1] A punto: Defender de los lobos con burros? ( Memento from November 15, 2017 in the Internet Archive )

[2] Herd protection with donkeys, broadcast of the MDR on April 4, 2018 ( memento of February 21, 2019 in the Internet Archive ), retrieved on February 20, 2019

[3] Online article in the Märkische Oder newspaper Nur Esel bet on Esel from August 27, 2017 , accessed on February 20, 2019.

[4] Overview of the Federal Documentation and Advice Center on Wolf from February 14, 2019, overview of the funding requirements of the federal states not directly available, report can be downloaded as a PDF file, accessed on February 20, 2019.

[5] Funding in Lower Saxony as an example , accessed on February 20, 2019.

[6] Preventive protection of farm animals from wolves. (PDF) Information brochure of the Freundeskreis Freebender Wölfe eV , accessed on February 19, 2015 .

[7] Stubborn, but also loud: donkey should chase away wolf. NDR.de, January 11, 2015, archived from the original ; Retrieved February 19, 2015 .