A donkey is a mammal of the family Equidae. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African wild ass, E. africanus. The donkey has been used as a working animal for at least 5000 years. There are more than 40 million donkeys in the world, mostly in underdeveloped countries, where they are used principally as draught or pack animals. Working donkeys are often associated with those living at or below subsistence levels. Small numbers of donkeys are kept for breeding or as pets in developed countries.
A male donkey or ass is called a jack, a female a jenny or jennet; a young donkey is a foal. Jack donkeys are often used to mate with female horses to produce mules; the biological "reciprocal" of a mule, from a jack and a jenny as its parents instead, is called a hinny.
The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African wild ass, E. africanus. The donkey has been used as a working animal for thousands of years.
Donkeys were first domesticated in Africa about 6000 years ago. They were brought to Europe by the Romans about 2000 years ago, and to the Americas by the Spanish in the 1500s. Donkeys are used for riding, carrying loads, and as pack animals. They are also used for breeding mules, which are hybrids of donkeys and horses.
Today, there are about 40 million donkeys in the world, with the majority living in developing countries.