DONKEY

The donkey or ass, Equus asinus, is a member of the Equidae or horse family, and an odd-toed ungulate. The words donkey and ass are applied to the domesticated E. asinus. The animal considered to be its wild ancestor is the African Wild Ass, also E. asinus.

Colloquially, the term "ass" is often used today to refer to a larger, horse-sized animal, and "donkey" to a smaller, pony-sized one. In the western United States, a small donkey is sometimes called a burro. A male donkey or ass is called a jack, a female a jenny, and offspring less than one year old, a foal (male: colt, female filly).

While different species of the Equidae family can interbreed, offspring are almost always sterile. Nonetheless, horse/donkey hybrids are popular for their durability and vigor. A mule is the offspring of a jack (male) donkey and a mare (female horse). The much rarer successful mating of a male horse and a female donkey produces a hinny.

Asses were first domesticated around 3000 BCE[1], approximately the same time as the horse, and have spread around the world. They continue to fill important roles in many places today and domesticated species are increasing in numbers (although the African wild ass and another relative, the Onager, are endangered species). As "beasts of burden" and companions, asses and donkeys have worked together with humans for centuries.