Ears
Direction and drop.
For exampleEars held down or back are scored as pain markers on the Donkey Grimace Scale.
Species / Donkeys
Donkeybody language.
Calm, careful and deeply loyal, a quiet thinker whose stillness can hide a lot.
72Signals mapped
46Science-backed references
149Unique scenarios
Start with the animal
Who the donkey is.
Donkeys are equids, but they are not small horses. When something worries them they tend to freeze and assess rather than run, which is why vets and ethologists call them stoic rather than stubborn.
They form strong, often lifelong bonds with particular companions. And because they show pain more subtly than horses, reading their faces and posture carefully matters a lot.
What FaunaVera looks at
The signals we read.
A few of the channels FaunaVera watches and listens to in every donkey video, weighed together with context and checked against a donkey-specific ethogram.
Head and neck
Carriage and height.
For exampleHead carriage is one of the most consistent parts of a donkey's behaviour over time, so a change from their usual carriage is worth noticing.
Tail
Swishing and position.
For exampleTail swishing together with head shaking and foot stamping is most often about keeping flies away, not about you.
Face
The donkey pain face.
For exampleTight eyes, tense nostrils and a tense muzzle are all part of validated donkey pain scales.
Stillness
Freezing and dullness.
For exampleFreezing is a donkey's main response to threat, so a very still, quiet donkey may be masking pain or fear.
Bonds
Pairs and companions.
For exampleMost donkeys have a preferred companion, and in choice tests they picked that companion over other donkeys.
Did you know?
Donkeys hide pain even more than horses do, which is why researchers had to build donkey-specific pain scales.
Common misreads
- “Donkeys are stubborn.”They are stoic and cautious. Stopping to look and assess is a survival strategy, not defiance.
- “A quiet, still donkey is a content donkey.”Stillness can be freezing, and donkeys are good at masking pain. Check the face and posture too.
- “Tail swishing means they’re annoyed with you.”It often comes with head shaking and foot stamping as fly avoidance.
Being around a donkey
Give them time to look and decide, and don’t rush them. Keep bonded pairs together, because their companion matters to them.
See it for yourself
Your donkey, read in seconds.
Upload a short video and FaunaVera reads the whole picture for you: an Interpretation, Voice of Animal, practical Tips and Ethogram Insights that explain exactly which signals it saw.
Where this comes from
A few of the studies.
FaunaVera's donkey ethogram draws on 46 science-backed references. Here are a handful of them.
- F. H. Regan et al. (2014). Behavioural repertoire of working donkeys and consistency of behaviour over time, as a preliminary step towards identifying pain-related behaviours. PLoS ONE, 9(7), e101877. Read
- E. K. Orth et al. (2020). Development of a Donkey Grimace Scale to recognize pain in donkeys (Equus asinus) post castration. Animals, 10(8), 1411. Read
- M. C. van Dierendonck et al. (2020). Monitoring acute pain in donkeys with the Equine Utrecht University Scale for Donkeys Composite Pain Assessment (EQUUS-DONKEY-COMPASS) and the Equine Utrecht University Scale for Donkey Facial Assessment of Pain (EQUUS-DONKEY-FAP). Animals, 10(2), 354. Read
- F. H. Ashley, A. E. Waterman-Pearson & H. R. Whay (2005). Behavioural assessment of pain in horses and donkeys: application to clinical practice and future studies. Equine Veterinary Journal, 37(6), 565-575. Read
- L. M. A. Murray, K. Byrne & R. B. D’Eath (2013). Pair-bonding and companion recognition in domestic donkeys, Equus asinus. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 143, 67-74. Read
