Donkey Breeds in Europe - Safeguard for Agricultural Varieties in ...

CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE PROSPECTS
The European Donkey survey gives an overview about occurring breeds and activities
in the countries. In 24 countries donkey breeds or varieties were found. In total,
57 breeds or varieties could be identified. In nearly every country, a “common donkey”
is recognised, which means, that no differentiation or standardisation has
taken place.
The following table gives an overview about the situation per European country:
Country Breeds No of
Breeding
animals organised
Albania 1 67600 no
Austria 2 2000 yes
Bosinia & Herzegovina ? ? no
Bulgaria 1 185744 no
Croatia 3 3800 yes
Cyprus (Greek) 1 2700 yes, partly
Denmark 1 5000 yes
France 9 40000 yes
Germany 4 7000 yes
Greece 3 21000 no
Hungary 2 3000 yes, partly
Ireland 1 ? partly
Italy 9 3000 yes
Malta 1 100 yes, partly
Macedonia 1 ? no
Netherlands 1 ? yes
Portugal 2 ? partly
Romania 1 40000 no
Serbia 1 ? no
Slovenia 1 26 (?) yes
Spain 6 75000 yes
Sweden 1 450 yes
Switzerland 1 5000 yes, partly
Turkey 3 ? no
United Kingdom 1 ? yes, partly
Total 57 461420
Tab. 6: Donkeys in Europe: No of animals per country.
The “common” donkey is occurring in nearly all listed countries. Often this means, that there is no information
about any breed. The total number of animals listed here is also not an accurate number, because often the stock
numbers are estimated (by governmental bodies).
The breeds per country are also shown in the figure below. France, Italy and Spain
are the European countries with the most identified breeds. In comparison with the
numbers of animals, it seems amazing, that e.g. in Bulgaria but also in most of the
other south and southeast European countries only the “common” donkey is identified.
A differentiation into breeds and varieties has not yet taken place.
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