A little baby donkey was found and reunited with his mom!
South Africa (11 January 2021) – Recently, National Inspector Matome of the NSPCA found a little lost donkey foal on the side of the road and began the investigation to reunite the little guy with his mom.
Inspector Matome says that he went cold when he found this little helpless donkey all alone in the grass near a busy road. Donkeys are very protective of their young, and moms are usually always nearby; however, the mother of this foal was nowhere in sight.
Inspector Matome began to fear that the mother may have been hit by a car or had died somewhere. The foal was picked up from the busy roadside by the Inspector, who then proceeded to check if it was injured or sick. Thankfully, the little guy appeared to be in good health and was not even dehydrated despite being in the heat.
Ever resourceful Inspector Matome rallied the community to try and find out where the mom and owner were, while he kept the little guy safe.
“Donkey moms are very vocal, and it wasn’t long before the Inspector could see the owner and mom approaching, in search of their lost baby. The foal was all legs sprinting to get back to mom once he heard her calling out, and was all too happy to see her again.”
The foal had escaped through a small patch in the fence of the owner’s property. This was immediately sealed by the owner to prevent future escapes from the “little Houdini”. With mom and little guy reunited and safe, the owner was extremely grateful, and their rescue was complete.
Donkeys are widely used throughout the developing world for assisting humankind by drawing carts and farm implements, carrying packs across rough terrain and for riding. Their kind, gentle dispositions make them ideal for use by women and children; unfortunately, this also opens them to abuse and ill-treatment.
Donkeys are often seen as being stubborn and stupid when in reality the times they are not willing to work is often when they are so exhausted or in such poor condition and malnourished that they simply cannot.
They have a remarkable ability to survive and continue working under extremely harsh, cruel conditions and are truly great service animals. It is said that “the donkey sustains life in carrying water, wood and giving service to the poorest and most remote peoples in Africa”.
The NSPCA National Donkey Protection Project is a holistic approach to improving the lives of these animals. Each aspect of care and welfare needs to be addressed, including:
- Limiting working hours, so the animals have a chance to rest and graze
- Improving heavy and unsafe carts
- Replacing worn, unsafe tyres which cannot be adequately inflated creating more resistance for the donkeys to pull
- Youth education programmes – investing in long term welfare
primary health care - Harnessing skills transfer – training owners how to make humane harnessing
- Humane training and handling of donkeys
You can support the work of the National Donkey Upliftment Project by clicking here.