What are Burros?

Burros are wild horses, or more specifically wild donkeys. These are hybrid horses born from the mating of jackasses and mares. The term burros may have originated from the Spanish word borrico, which means donkey, or burricus, which is german for small horse. These creatures played a major role in opening up the Western United States as they were originally brought in by miners, as pack animals to carry gold and everything else as well. After the mines were closed, these animals were set free to roam the hills, and so they grew in population.

The burros, which are also known as Equus Asinus, were brought to America by Spanish explorer in the early 16th Century. As previously mentioned, miners made use of these animals as animals of burden. This is because burros or donkeys have very strong backs, for their size compared to their much larger relatives. The burros in the present day are taken care of in National Parks where they are offered for adoption as pets. The ones that still roam freely in the wild are rounded up the Bureau of Land Management in helicopters and transported to reserves. The reason behind this is because wild burros destroy ecosystems. They contaminate water sources with their feces and urine and destroy vegetation by overgrazing, affecting other wild life. They also drink way too much water. An adult burro drinks approximately 22 liters(5 gallons) of water a day, as compared to native sheep which drink 3.8 liters(1 gallon) a day.

Burros, however, are better than horses when domesticated. It is believed that they are smarter, more aware, and well capable of fighting off predators. The problem with these animals is that they seem very sluggish and lazy, but they are quiet and capable of very hard work. They’re just harder to motivate.

The feral burros in the United States are the descendants of two breeds of burros which originally came from Africa: the Somalian and the Nubian. The Somalian breed is characterized by stripes on their front and rear legs like that of a zebra. The Nubian breed is known for black stripes along its shoulder and along its back, forming a cross. Because the feral burros are a mix of the two, the burros that now exist in the United States exhibit random properties of the two breeds.

The average adult burro is only half the size of a full-grown horse. They weigh at around 400 lbs, with the females called jennies weighing slightly lower. The males are called jacks. They eat grass just like their bigger relatives, but are more capable of withstanding high temperatures and even long periods without green forage. They do this by hiding in the shade and doing their activities in early morning and late afternoon. Their instinct and natural adaption is probably caused by the fact that they were originally released in the dessert, and so they learned to survive. Burros are capable of fighting off predators, which also probably comes from the same survival instinct. But doing so is no easy task, as the burros’ natural predators are mountain lions and coyotes, however with the low population of these predators, the population of the burros just continues to grow.

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