Information Supplied by Marjorie Farabee, Director of Wild Burro Affairs, Wild Horse Freedom Federation
CRITICALLY ENDANGERED NUBIAN ASS DNA CONFIRMED A PERFECT MATCH ON BONAIRE (Dutch Antilles)
Nubian Ass are on the Critically Endangered IUCN Red list of endangered species and are to be protected “wherever found”.
Rona Aguliar, member of the team formed by Al Catalfumo and joined by Marjorie Farabee of Todd Mission Ranch Wild Burro Protection Leagueand Wild Horse Freedom Federation along with several specialists mentioned below, discovered the description of the Nubian Ass connection in a book written about the animals by Bart A. de Boer.
DNA samples were sent to Ms. Farabee who brought them to Dr. Gus Cothran at TAMU (Texas A&M).
At midnight, 3/28/2014 while in Bonaire, Farabee recieved a message from Dr. Gus Cothran that confirming that the samples submitted ARE pure NUBIAN ASS!! Although still listed as Critically Endangered they have been presumed to be extinct since the 1950’s to be protected “wherever found”.
The group has been asking Bonaire’s Government for two months to put a temporary stop to the catching, castrating and killing of Bonairean Donkeys due to their cultural connection to the people of Bonaire’s past. There is in existence a contract to eradicate the donkeys from the Caribbean island.
Group members attended a meeting with the Island council were they presented compelling data and asked the council to stop the capturing, killing and castrating the donkeys of Bonaire.
The island council indicated interest in the presentation and asked the conservation group to meet with the Executive Council since they would have to make the decision to stop the contract now in place between the Donkey Sanctuary Bonaire and the government.
Much to the group’s disappointment a message was received from the council secretary stating that the advisers present saw no sufficient grounds to advise cessation to the contract.
With the new DNA evidence now discovered it is imperative that the Bonairean Government STOP this contract immediately. This is an international affair. This is a huge scientific discovery. This is history.
Special thanks to Karen Van Atta, Carl Mrozek, Jesica Johnston, Kathy Gregg, Craig Downer, T. T. Cicilia, Chum-Tai Soon, Johnny Straitz and all the people of Bonaire who have faith in the truth.
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Categories: Wild Burros
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
Wow !! This is Fantastic News, isnt DNA Great !!!!!!! Now it has been Proven beyond a doubt that these Donkeys MUST be saved !!!!!!!! Let the Saving commence immediately ………………………….
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We need support to get the wells working, information signs posted at the airport and cruise ship ports, street signs posted as well as speed bumps in high traffic areas used by the buriku (donkeys) of Bonaire. I am very excited about this find, and at the town hall meeting many Bonaireans were there to tell us stories of island life before the behavior of the donkeys was changed by the Donkey Sanctuary Bonaire, and added tourism. They used to stay in the mundi (bush) now tourists feed them from their cars on the road. The DSB lets people drive through in their cars and feed them whatever they like, and only females are kept at the sanctuary which is located by the airport in town! Of course, the donkeys come into town now, they are looking for their family. They are looking for jennies, and there are no safeguards in place to keep the donkeys or the public safe. Our plan can change all of that, but we need donors willing to adopt a well to fix or build, to provide seed for the herd management area to the north that we are developing through generous donations of large tracts of land owned by Bonaireans. We can do this!
Marjorie Farabee
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FYI I did not put the blue links in the article or in my reply above. I clicked one just now and it took me to spam advertising.
~MF
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Thank you, Donkey Saving Team, for using scientific research instead of believing myths and falsehoods in preserving these precious animals. They are beautiful.
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Just like the states, the agencies that the Bonairean govt relied on to make this decision never conducted a single study. Not one. Yet, these donkeys are naturalized and a part of the ecosystem of Bonaire. They remove the buriku at great risk of the collapse of some other species.
Marjorie Farabee
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So if the gov.doesn’t want to save them then ship them off the island.
But do everything to save them.
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Debi, that would have to be a last, last choice. These buriku belong to the people of Bonaire, and represent their culture. But, losing them to world is not an option either. We will save them.
Marjorie
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I agree with Miss Abby. These buriku belong to the people of Bonaire. This is a great day for me, just a diver who loves Bonaire the way it has been for the years I’ve been visiting, and for the wonderful people and their culture. Horrah!
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The way these poor burro’s are treated now is criminal! What can we do to pressure them? Contact info?
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http://www.savethebonairedonkeys.com/
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This news is not surprising, given the tenacity of the equid species. However, one, myself, wonder at the lack of intrinsic interest the sanctuary manager shows for the true heritage of the burros that she has been slaughtering. That is, other than possibly the value of their meat – possibly? And to think of their suffering isolated, no food or water. How shamelessly careless. Can we write to this council?
Why are these rogues even allowed near the animals? The same is happening with the remote Placitas (New Mexico) horses. A few give them no value – to the world they are priceless and yet, the dastardly few interfere and extinguish the peace. It has to stop.
And I’d like to thank Dr. Cothran for his tireless assistance in identifying these remarkable animals.
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Are you saying the Marina has been slaughtering donkeys? I’ve been to her sanctuary and would be surprised to learn this is true.
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http://www.savethebonairedonkeys.com/
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At last DNA and world intervention will save these congenial and noble creatures from a culture that devalues them and seems determined to eradicate them. After the last reports about conditions at the sanctuary, the plight of the Bonaire donkeys seemed next to hopeless. Now they will be protected and the sanctuary staff will have to be reeducated. Finally we can see some hope for these rare and unique donkeys in this isolated colony.
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The Sanctuary is not a friend to the buriku (donkeys) of Bonaire. The conditions at the sanctuary were horridous, and the donkeys belong in the mundi (bush) where they always stayed until tourism and the sanctuary changed their behavior. Donkeys killed at the sanctuary have been showing up at the dump by the truck load. Farmers from kunukus are finding them dead in their fields from the barbaric castrations performed by a small animal veterinarian. They are turned out the same day as the castration. The people of Bonaire say that the buriku are Bonaire. The buriku represent their culture and they have always left them alone to be wild. It is not the Bonaireans who are the problem. It is the contract signed by Marina Melis of the Donkey Sanctuary Bonaire and the Bonairean government under the guidance of the Dutch environmental department. The donkeys need to be reprogrammed to live in the mundi, and the government needs to pay attention to providing information to tourists not to feed the donkeys. Signs, speed bumps, and educations will save these donkeys while we prepare the new reserve up on the north side of the island far from people.
Marjorie Farabee
http://www.savethebonairedonkeys.com/
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Amen Miss Abby!
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Reblogged this on Pass the SAFE Act! and commented:
Wonderful news!
“Nubian Ass are on the Critically Endangered IUCN Red list of endangered species and are to be protected “wherever found”.
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So very happy to hear this news! And so very kind of you to mention other people that are working in the background to help. Good on ya.
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It takes a village, Epona!
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It certainly does ❤ Thank you for everything you do to protect them.
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Great news which makes me wonder where else some pockets may remain of species thought to be extinct (especially other Equus species).
Per finding ways to save these Asses, does anyone know the probability of it being the species ridden by Jesus and Mary in the bible? Maybe someone could contact the Pope if so… he took the name St. Francis, who is the patron saint of animals as I understand it. It will probably take international support to ensure these animals survive and thrive.
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The Bonarians are Catholic, so yes this should be considered.
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How can we be sure that even with this discovery, the proper changes will be made in significant enough of a manner, that the donkey’s will be safe there?
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Because the people DO care! I learned this first hand. The people of Bonaire revere the buriku as having intangible cultural value. The Bonaireans share the same history of enslavement and freedom, they do care much more deeply than is being portrayed by the Donkey Sanctuary Bonaire. They do not want to lose their culture.
Marjorie Farabee
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WHAT an incredible discovery. THANK YOU to all of you who have worked so hard to save these Burros.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/endangered-wild-equids/
Endangered Wild Equids
Wild zebra, asses and horses are being killed for meat, medicine and money. Combined with vanishing habitats and naturally slow reproduction, such predation threatens remaining populations
By Patricia D. Moehlman
From the time our ancestors first painted on cave walls, the beauty and speed of horses have captured our imagination. During this period, some 20,000 to 25,000 years ago, equids were among the most abundant and ecologically important herbivores on the grasslands of Africa, Asia and the Americas.
Today only seven species of wild equids remain–three asses, three zebra and one wild horse–and IUCN-The World Conservation Union now lists most of these as endangered.
Wildlife biologists, including the Equid Specialist Group of the IUCN, which I chair, study the dwindling populations to learn as much as possible about these historically important animals while they still roam free. We also search for ways to stem their disappearance and have recently developed a plan that prioritizes the actions that should be taken.
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Thank you Louie, I am trying to get a response from Dr. Moehlman now to an e-mail. I understand it usually takes a month since she is out in the bush most of the time. I will share with you what she says when I get her response.
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Check out the page Rona Aguilar put together for the donkeys of Bonaire. Any additional information to answer questions can be found there. It is a work in progress and will be added to as it develops. http://www.savethebonairedonkeys.com/
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The donkey photo posted by RT is of a donkey who had just been castrated an put out on the salt mining fields. The ear tags represent the end of a genetic line and they are getting infected from what we observed.
Marjorie Farabee
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Maybe i can help buy some seed or fix a well it shouldnt b to expensive as things r fairly inexpensive to purchase and labor there. I would love to come on vacation and spend sometime with the donkeys and the group.
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Robin, many of the wells on the island are either in need of repair or not working at all. We were hoping that perhaps we can start a sponsorship program where people or businesses adopt a well. Water is very expensive on Bonaire. Check out http://www.savethebonairedonkeys.com for more info and a contact with Rona Aguilar. Her father lives in Bonaire and can get this well adoption program working. Thank you!
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We have nubian donkeys . Some one know who to contact?
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