These pack animals are known to everyone - small, stocky, with long charming ears. 
Wild donkeys can be found in savannas from Somalia to Morocco, as well as in the Arabian Peninsula and the Middle East. There is also a separate species called kiang - it can be found in the northern parts of Pakistan, Nepal, China, Bhutan, and India.
Domesticated donkeys are found almost everywhere and most of all they like to live in warm and dry areas. 
Wild donkey
There are three main types of donkeys: domesticated, feral and wild.
Wild ones are usually 125 cm at the withers and weigh a quarter of a ton. Domesticated ones vary greatly in size, depending on breeding. They are usually slightly smaller than their wild brothers (from 90 to 123 cm at the withers) and do not weigh as much. Dwarf donkeys can generally grow to only 92 cm and weigh less than 180 kg. And the largest breed can reach up to 143 cm and weigh almost half a ton. 
Domesticated donkey
Donkeys are herbivores. They can nibble on grass, shrubs and even desert plants. And they eat a lot. The Global Invasive Species Database reports that a single burro can eat up to 2,772 kg of plants per year. This, by the way, is alarming in relation to wild donkeys - which can migrate and practically deprive other herbivores of food. 
Zebrul
Breeding donkeys is interesting. In general, it doesn’t really matter to them who they are with - donkeys, zebras or horses. As a result, hybrid children may appear: a horse that mates with a donkey will give birth to a mule. A zebra and a donkey will produce an animal called a zebra. This kind of hybrids, by the way, are sterile and will not be able to produce offspring on their own. 
Donkey with foal
Donkeys carry a baby for 12-14 months. Foals can weigh between 8 and 13 kg at birth and can stand within half an hour of being born. At five months they stop drinking their mother's milk, and two-year-olds are already old enough to produce their own offspring. Donkeys can give birth every year. 
Donkeys are extremely sociable animals and always live in a herd. A wild herd is usually headed by a male and has several females with him at the same time. There are also such huge herds that there can be several males. As long as the “non-main” donkeys behave calmly and obey the “boss,” everything is fine and they get along well together. Wild herds can disintegrate and are regularly replenished with new donkeys; they do not have serious social connections. 
Domestic donkeys are great helpers on the farm. They are very durable and can carry very heavy loads on their backs. In a number of regions, donkey milk is actively consumed as food along with cow milk. Sometimes they can even protect other livestock from predators - if they are even slightly related to other pets, they will defend them to the last.
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