Everybody loves to see a donkey! With their large fuzzy ears and soulful eyes, they naturally tug at the heartstrings of horse lovers everywhere. Donkeys were first domesticated in Africa around 3000 BC. They evolved in desert areas and, consequently, developed as browsers that can adapt to poor quality feed and irregular water supplies. Their easygoing nature and hardiness made them ideal as beasts of burden in the hotter, drier parts of the world. Coming in a variety of sizes, donkeys and their hybrid offspring, mules and hinnies, range anywhere from Miniature donkeys of less than 35 inches in height all the way up to Mammoth Jack donkeys that can exceed 15 hands.