Burro
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The burro is a small donkey. In Mexico, the donkey population, estimated at three million,[1] is among the largest in the world. It may also be called burro mexicano, burro criollo or burro criollo mexicano. There are burros also in Guatemala, Nicaragua and the southwestern United States, and burros criollos in El Salvador. Burro is a Spanish word for donkey.
In the United States, burro is used to describe any donkey used primarily as a pack animal, as well as the feral donkeys of Arizona, California and Nevada,[2] which originated from their domesticated pack animal ancestors.
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[edit] Characteristics
The burro is a small donkey. A study of working donkeys in central Mexico found a weight range of 50–186 kilograms (110–410 lb), with an average weight of 122 kg (270 lb) for males and 112 kg (250 lb) for females. Height varied from 87–120 cm (34–47 in), with an average of approximately 108 cm (43 in), and girth measurements ranged from 88–152 cm, with an average of about 120 cm.
The average age of the burros in the study was 6.4 years; as judged by their teeth, they ranged from 1 to 17 years old.[3]
Burros in Mexico tend to be smaller than their cousins in the USA, which are both larger and more robust. Therefore, in May 2005, the state of Jalisco imported 11 male and female donkeys from Kentucky with the aim of strengthening Mexican bloodstock.[1]
[edit] History
The first asses came to the Americas on supply ships with the Second Voyage of Christopher Columbus, and were landed at Hispaniola in 1495.[4] The first to reach North America may have been two animals taken to Mexico by Juan de Zumárraga, the first bishop of Mexico, who arrived there on 6 December 1528, and who in 1529 requested that more be sent in order to relieve the Native people, who had been branded and enslaved by the Conquistadores.[5]
[edit] In the USA
The first donkeys to reach what is now the United States may have crossed the Rio Grande river with Juan de Oñate in April 1598.[5] From that time on they spread gradually northwards, finding use in missions and mines. Donkeys are documented in Arizona in 1679. During the Gold Rush years in the western United States, the burro was the beast of burden of choice of early prospectors, and large numbers of burros were imported.[6] With the end of the mining boom, many of them escaped or were abandoned, and a feral population established itself. In February 2010 the estimated numbers of feral burros were:[7]
| State | Population |
|---|---|
| Arizona | 2248 |
| California | 1069 |
| Nevada | 1177 |
| Oregon | 15 |
| Utah | 164 |
| Total | 4673 |
Feral burros in certain parts of the United States are protected by the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971. These animals, considered to be a living legacy, are periodically at risk when severe drought conditions prevail. To reduce herd populations and preserve grazing land, the Bureau of Land Management conducts roundups of burro herds, some of which are then sold at public auctions.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b Garcia-Navarro, Lourdes (8 May 2005) "Celebrating the Burro in Mexico" (transcript of radio broadcast). Accessed February 2012.
- ^ Burro in Merriam Webster Dictionary.
- ^ Aluja, Aline S. de; Francisco López; Graciela Tapia Pérez (2004) Estimación del peso corporal en burros del Centro de México a partir de la circunferencia torácica (Spanish-language version of A. S. de Aluja, G. Tapia Pérez, F. López and R. A. Pearson "Live Weight Estimation of Donkeys in Central México from Measurement of Thoracic Circumference", Tropical Animal Health and Production, 37, Supplement 1: 159-171, DOI 10.1007/s11250-005-9007-0)
- ^ Roots, Clive (2007) Domestication Westport: Greenwood Press ISBN 9780313339875 p.179.
- ^ a b Brookshier, Frank (1974) The Burro Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. p.221.
- ^ Olsen, Sandra L. (1995) Horses through time Boulder, CO: Roberts Rinehart Publishers for Carnegie Museum of Natural History. ISBN 9781570980602. Cited at Donkey International Museum of the Horse. Accessed February 2012.
- ^ Table 5-12: Wild free-roaming horse and burro populations as of February 28, 2010 U.S. Department of the Interior: Bureau of Land Management. Accessed February 2012.
[edit] External links
- National Wild Horse and Burro Program (Bureau of Land Management, United States Department of the Interior)
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