Donkeys are no dumber than horses, just different.

Why does the donkey have such a poor intellectual reputation? Scientific studies comparing the cognition of donkeys and horses in areas such as spatial intelligence , learning , and memory have concluded that the two species are similar. So we'll have to look elsewhere for the reasons, and to do so, we need to free ourselves from prejudices and really get to know the donkey.

Domestic donkeys are descended from the African wild donkey , which inhabited semi-arid mountains where life was difficult. The environment was characterized by sparse vegetation, scattered water sources, and widely fluctuating temperatures. This rugged terrain contrasted with the open, grassy plains where wild horses lived. Therefore, despite their close relationship, horses and donkeys are not as similar as they might seem .

On the plains, there are often enough natural resources for large herds of horses to form, where stallions have their harems of mares. In the donkey's natural environment, where resources are scarce, individuals had to disperse, adapting to living in very small groups or even alone.

In this context, wild donkeys had to communicate over long distances. That's why they evolved such large noses and ears: they needed to produce that characteristic loud bray and be heard from far away. Their jaws also had to be very powerful to crush the woody mountain shrubs, which required a wide, robust neck to support their heavy heads. Finally, their short limbs were more suited to moving across difficult terrain than for speed.

The environment one lives in also affects one's temperament. Donkeys are known among veterinarians for being very stoic . They feel pain just like other animals, but they express it in more subtle ways. Therefore, when faced with hard and strenuous work, they will complain less.

According to a 2022 article published in the journal Science , the domestication of the donkey occurred only once, 7,000 years ago in northeast Africa, as the Sahara was beginning to transform into a desert. Humanity was undergoing major changes: cities were proliferating, production was becoming more specialized, trade was becoming increasingly important, and warfare was on the rise. In this context, the domestic donkey quickly spread across Eurasia. They arrived in South America in the 15th century from Spain and North Africa, and were imported to North America in the 18th and 19th centuries.

They were the perfect tool for the time. All their characteristics gave them a less graceful and majestic appearance than horses, but their strength, endurance, and stoicism made them ideal as pack animals.

Thus, while horses carried kings and war heroes on their backs, participated in races, and accompanied maidens on their walks, donkeys were used by peasants for field work. Horses represented spirit, freedom, and courage; donkeys represented submission, work, and servitude. Horses symbolized wealth, while donkeys symbolized poverty.

If we think about it, the donkey has been a more productive and useful animal for humanity than the horse, but its role in society led us to view it as far removed from intelligence. Those who worked the fields and served submissively were considered intellectually inferior to the nobleman who could dedicate his afternoons to contemplating nature.

Even today, we still associate donkeys with poverty and horses with wealth. There are 50 million donkeys in the world , and most are found in developing countries. Sub-Saharan Africa, northern India, and tropical Latin America have been the main areas of donkey population growth over the past three decades, while they have declined dramatically in the Mediterranean region and China.

There is another aspect of donkey biology that has also contributed to its association with idiocy. When a person is thoughtless, impulsive, and tends to resolve conflicts with violence, they are called a donkey. To understand this, we must return to the environment where African wild donkeys lived.

When you live on plains with your herd, flight is the best strategy against predators, but when your terrain is rugged, you lack agility, and you're the only prey in sight, the best course of action is attack. Therefore, domestic donkeys are more likely than horses to become aggressive when they feel threatened.

Furthermore, to improve their chances of finding a mate, male wild donkeys often established a territory around a water source. This explains why domestic donkeys can display territorial behavior when living with other animals and attack them if they don't consider them part of their group. In turn, this behavior has been exploited by people around the world who have used donkeys as guardians to protect sheep, goats, and other animals from predators.

However, the donkey can be a very affectionate animal with those with whom it forms a bond. A peculiar aspect of donkey social behavior is " pairing ." Very often, a domestic donkey develops a strong bond with another individual, which may be a donkey or another equine. Among animals, most pairings occur for sexual or kinship reasons. However, this does not necessarily have to be the case with donkeys, as two individuals of the same sex frequently establish a strong friendship.

Now, our perception of donkeys can change thanks to science. In recent years, the study of the animal mind has undergone a revolution. Although there is still an ocean of knowledge to be learned, more and more species are testing their cognitive abilities. The donkey has been researched far less than the horse, but published studies indicate that it is in no way inferior.

Interestingly, the mule is actually outperforming both the horse and the donkey in cognitive tests . The effect of hybridization on an organism varies: traits can be determined by one of the parents, be intermediate between the two, inferior, or superior. It has always been known that mules are stronger and have more endurance than horses and donkeys, and it seems that this improvement also extends to intelligence.

The truth is that there is still much to be studied. We are far from understanding why mules are smarter and from fully understanding the cognitive abilities of donkeys. But what we do know is that neither big ears, nor stoicism, nor endurance, nor fieldwork make an animal stupid.