Dr. Faith Burden

But very often in day-to-day normal times, donkeys are quiet.

They're patient and they don't move fast and they don't waste energy.

And again, it goes back to their evolutionary background that these are animals living in deserts where the temperatures are in the 40s.

You don't waste energy, you don't waste water, and you don't draw attention to yourself because otherwise you're going to be somebody's next meal.

You know, it's important that we understand they do express themselves, but at the right time and in the way that suits them.

Definitely.

So they have a huge spectrum of noises.

So bray is the one that we know most, but there's also snorts and whiffles.

And they can mean different things.

So friends greeting each other.

You can tell when two males that don't particularly like each other meet each other, but also when they're trying to seek affection or food very often.

And you can often tell which bray belongs to which member of the herd.

So they're quite individual as well.

And certainly our donkey carers that get to know their animals really, really well, you know, they could probably say that's Alfred waiting for his dinner at five o'clock and we're two minutes late.

Donkeys know their primary carers really well.

And mules, too, get very attached to certain people.

And they will greet an individual and they will get incredibly excited about seeing that individual.

It's not every donkey.

It's not every relationship.

But you do see it.