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Donkey
The Donkey
The Donkey, also sometimes called an Ass, is a member of the Equidae. The word Ass actually comes from the applied term that means domesticated. The cool thing about Donkies is the fact that their ancestor is the African Wild Ass. Most of the time, the term 'ass' is usually given to large horse-like animals. The term donkey is actually given to smaller pony like horses. However, in places like the western side of the United States, a small donkey is usually called a burro. This is actually a Spanish word for animal. If you have ever heard a donkey called a jackass, that is referring to a male donkey. A female donkey is called a jenny, or a jennyass. When talking about the babies of a donkey, you have to call them a colt for a male and a filly for a female. This helps keep everything apart when talking about them. If you mix donkies and horses together, you get a mule. This happens when you let a jackass mate with a mare (which is a female horse.).
People like to know that the first donkey was actually domesticated around 3000 BC. This is about the same time that the horse became domesticated as well. Although you do not see donkies used as much today, they still fill very important roles around the world. Some donkies around the world are on the edge of being endangered. For example, the African Wild Ass is close to be endangered and hard to find. Either way you look at it, the donkey and humans have worked together for years, and they will keep working together for a long time. Now it's time for us to talk a little bit more about the physical characteristics of the donkey. This way you can get a better picture of what they are suppose to look like in your head. This makes talking about the donkey just that much easier.
The first thing to note about the donkey is that it varies a lot in size. This, of course, depends on the breeder's management of their donkies. Most of the donkies reach sizes of about .9 to 1.5m tall. However, there are some in other parts of the world (like Spain) that reach sizes of about 1.6m tall. Also, donkies are amazing, because they can adapt to just about any kind of land. In fact, donkies are very good at living in the desert lands. This makes them a very unique breed of animal. Another amazing thing about donkies is that the wild ones do not live together.
Most wild horses live together in a tight herd. Donkies will live very separate from other donkies. Whenever you hear a donkey talk to another donkey, you will notice that they communicate with very loud and unpleasant vocalizations. This helps them keep up with other donkies that are in the desert. Just because they do not live together does not mean that they do not keep an eye on each other. This is why donkies have such long ears, so they can pick up sounds better.
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