CROATIAN AUTOCHTHONOUS BREEDS - DALMATIAN DONKEY

Dalmatian donkey The donkey has been known in these areas from times immemorial. It was an irreplaceable help in working on the rough land. There are numerous records about the donkey and its presence on the area of the Republic of Croatia. One of the earliest records about the donkey originates from the year 1214 and is written in the Statute of the city and island of Korčula. The donkey was also mentioned in the works of many of our writers like Gundulić, Držić, Marinković and others. The donkey (Lat. Equus asinus) was domesticated by crossing specimens from two presently living forms of the Nubian wild donkey (Equus asinus africanus) and Somalian wild donkey (Equus asinus somaliensis). The animal arrived on the territory of Croatia, precisely the coast of the Adriatic Sea owing to the development of trade connections with the civilizations of Persia, Egypt and Greece (Posavi et al., 2003). The present-day donkey is the result of natural selection more than of human choice. It persevered in extremely hard conditions of keeping and nourishment and this is the reason that it is significantly lower, smaller than the original species. Owing to its great endurance and modesty it was used as workforce in outstandingly unfavourable conditions. The Dalmatian donkey has also been called the Primorje-Dinara donkey (in the littoral and the Dinara mountain region) and, accordingly, we can find it from the mountain ridges in the north (Velebit, Dinara, ...) to the islands in the south of our country. We can even find it in Žumberak where they arrived with the Uskoks from Senj. Some fifty years ago the donkey population was very numerous (round 40,000 Posavi et al., 2003). Work on the preservation of indigenous breeds of donkeys started in 1997 when the Central register of matriculated head in the Croatian Livestock Centre registered 68 head. Nowadays the population of all the donkeys (80% of all the donkeys in Croatia are Dalmatian donkeys) that are covered by the selection comes up to 1,120 specimens (Annual report for the year 2005, HSC [Croatian Livestock Centre], 2006). According to some evaluations it is assumed that the total number of donkeys is more or less 2,000 head. The Dalmatian donkey is an animal of lower stature, the height of the withers round 100 cm and the overall weight round 95 kilos. The body is grey with a dark stripe along the back and shoulder blade forming a characteristic cross. The belly and the inner side of the legs are lighter, with darker stripes on the upper side of the legs. The head is of medium size, with a protruding forehead and the muzzle is white. On the head there are the markedly large eyes with a ring of white hairs (spectacles). The ears are of medium length with light long hairs on the inside and black ones along the edge. The neck is of medium length and the back narrow, proportionally linked to the rest of the trunk, overgrown with a black erect-standing mane. The withers are of medium length and weakly pronounced, the back narrow, and the croups lowered and weakly muscled. The chest is narrow, legs strong, hoofs small, round and hard. Donkeys are animals that live in a herd (they like being social) so that they find being on their own hard to bear. In the course of history the donkey had best results in working in the karst regions in the coastal area and the islands. On these areas cultures like olives and vineyards are to be found that demand manual cultivation. Even with the shortage of food, the donkey is an ideal help and working animal. It can carry the load of up to 120 kilos to great distances (more than 6 km). While working it has a lively step and is markedly persistent which stands in clear contrast to the prejudices that it is a stubborn and lazy animal. Donkeys are usually used as pack animals and more rarely engaged in pulling loads. Nowadays the value of the donkey is first of all in the preservation of the biological variety, but also of the tradition of our littoral and islands and as a tourist attraction. The state stimulates keeping donkeys by paying financial incentives so that this is, accompanied by the stimulation of family estates, the only way for the preservation of the donkey. Igor Štoković