A domestic donkey with large ears. It is a grazing animal that forms strong bonds with companions.
It has long ears, a short upright mane and a tail with long hair at the tip. Each ear can move independently to locate sounds.
A study tested whether 12 miniature donkeys remembered where food had been hidden. They were 1–12 years old: eight females and four males. Researchers showed each donkey a food bucket, hid it behind a wall, returned the animal to a starting point, and recorded which side it chose.
In the immediate memory test, six of the 12 donkeys chose the hidden-food side in at least three out of four trials. These six also took a delayed test; their average success rate was 66%, above chance. The researchers reported that miniature donkeys remembered the food’s location for at least 90 seconds.
In another task, visible food was placed behind a U-shaped barrier whose detour length was varied. Nine of 11 donkeys kept favoring the same side; only one chose the shorter route when the barrier was most asymmetric.
IUCN Red List · Not applicable (domesticated taxa are excluded) · Global
Domesticated donkeys are excluded from IUCN Red List assessments. The African Wild Ass (Equus africanus) is a separate wild species; its global assessment, dated 2014 and published in 2015, lists it as Critically Endangered (CR). The IUCN page flags that assessment as needing an update.