Europe pioneers ‘firefighter donkeys’ to prevent wildfires

As firefighters in France and Spain continue to tackle raging wildfires that have forced thousands of people to evacuate, communities farther from the frontlines are turning to donkeys.

The Tivissa Donkey Firefighters and El Burrito Feliz, two grassroots initiatives in Spain, are using these equines to reduce the risk of forest fires by letting them merely be themselves. Because when they are, they feed on dry grass and scrubland, thus curtailing the amount of flammable vegetation, especially in high-risk areas.

While grazing does not replace other traditional wildfire prevention methods like the use of machinery to create firebreaks, early detection, and manually clearing land, the donkey solution has emerged as a cheaper and effective way to slow the speed and reduce the intensity of fires.

Joan Cedo Sans, the founder of Tivissa Donkey Firefighters, which rehabilitates and redesignates abused and abandoned donkeys as ‘firefighters’, told The Hindu that the initiative is a win-win for everyone involved: the animals, the people, and the environment.

He said he preferred donkeys over other grazing animals due to their greater appetite and better sturdiness. Since donkeys weigh more than, say, goats, he also said they tread harder and thus better break the connected layer of dry foliage that fires often require to spread. The trails left by donkeys also help firefighting teams find paths as they work to contain fires during emergencies.

Founded in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic with just three abandoned donkeys, Tivissa today houses a herd of 62. “We never brought any animals,” Mr. Sans said. “All the animals came from abandoned and difficult situations. When we rescue a donkey, we need two or three months or maybe four to rehabilitate them psychologically and physically, or sometimes for a period as long as 18 months.”

Such initiatives emphasise how important it is to revive traditional methods and co-exist with animals, but they don’t come easy. Mr. Sans said, “It’s so difficult at this moment to have or create more projects like Tivissa Donkey because we have a lot of administrative challenges. All the animals have to be identified with a passport and moving them requires a lot of paperwork. It’s easier because we’ve been doing this for more than six years but if somebody wants to start, it’s difficult because of the bureaucratic problems.”

While governments continue to ramp up efforts to contain the fires, Europe can also count on a herd of donkeys chomping away to prevent the next one.

sambavi.p@thehindu.co.in