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- The load weight a domestic ass can carry may reach two thirds of its own body weight, and in exceptional cases may exceed it. In this regard, the ass has an advantage over a horse, as it is extremely hardy and can go much longer without water and food.
- Donkeys have excellent long-term memory and can recognise places and other animals many years later.
- The so-called “stubbornness” of the donkey is actually caution: the animal carefully assesses risk before moving.
- The bray of a domestic ass can be heard from a distance of more than three kilometers. The sound lasts twenty seconds and helps maintain contact with other asses across vast desert areas.
- Working asses in more developed countries live longer than in poorer ones. In developed countries, their lifespan may range from 30 to 50 years.
- Hybrids of asses and horses, such as mules and hinnies, are usually sterile, but possess high endurance and strength. Their speed is almost like that of a horse.
- Wild asses in arid areas lead solitary lives and do not form harems. Unlike wild horses, they do not live in herds.
- The donkey has 62 chromosomes while the horse has 64, so mules resulting from their cross are sterile.
- A domestic ass has five lumbar vertebrae, a horse has six. The body temperature of asses ranges from 37.5 to 38.5 °C.
- The donkey’s normal gait is a pace, which provides stability on uneven ground.
Age
The species typically lives from 35 years and 3 months to 58 years and 10 months, with a maximum lifespan of 50 years, although the theoretical lifespan ranges from 15 years and 1 month to 48 years and 11 months. The age of sexual maturity is from 2 years and 5 months to 3 years, and the young are born with their eyes open and begin to walk immediately. During the embryonic stage, the fetus develops inside the mother, followed by the young stage where a foal feeds on its mother's milk and quickly learns to walk, lasting from 6 months to 1 year. The adult stage begins when the species is capable of reproduction and performing work, and lasts from 1 to 50 years.
Phenotype
The species has long ears, which aid in hearing and cooling the body; foals possess this feature, as do adults. The young have hard hooves that enable walking on rocky terrain, while adults also have strong legs for long walks carrying heavy loads. Adult asses have a short, erect mane and a tail with a tassel at the end to ward off insects. An adult has four legs, and both the young and the adult possess two ears.
Physiology
The body height of a foal ranges from 17 centimeters to 4.5 meters, with a body length varying from 0.9 to 1.5 meters and a mass between 177.52 and 244.97 kilograms; during the embryo stage, the body mass is from 1 gram to 30 kilograms, while the young have a body mass of 20 to 80 kilograms and a body length of 70 centimeters to 1 meter; adult asses have a body mass between 150 kilograms and 0.25 metric tons, with a body length ranging from 0.9 to 1.4 meters.
Habitat
The species inhabits altitudes up to 2.5 kilometers and occupies diverse biomes including temperate mixed forests with warm summers and abundant oak, birch, and maple trees, flooded meadows with plentiful grass, deserts and dry scrublands characterized by intense heat and infrequent rainfall where cacti thrive, tropical savannas with uneven rainfall and abundant grasses and trees, temperate steppes with limited trees and occasional rainfall, as well as terrestrial tundra and highlands. The species is found in terrestrial landscapes, high mountain areas, and tundra, also inhabiting ground meadows and steppes, and terrestrial tidal zones. Climates where the species lives include very hot and nearly dry conditions with little to no rain, hot steppes with very hot, dry summers and abundant grass, extremely dry environments with rare rainfall resembling a desert, cold and nearly dry climates that are cold almost year-round, and very hot and dry conditions with intense daytime heat and cold nights with little rainfall.
Shelter
The species inhabits open terrain and does not have a permanent or long-term shelter. The animals do not use permanent shelters, and may utilize branches, grass, hay, and bark for rest and protection from the sun. There is no fixed shelter for the species.
Geography
The species occupies the Afrotropics, Nearctic, Palearctic, and Australasia biogeographical realms, inhabiting Simpson Desert ecosystems, the Stony Desert of Tirari-Sturt, Arnhem Land tropical savanna, Carpentaria tropical savanna, Kimberley tropical savanna, and the Victoria Plains tropical savanna.
Feeding
The species feeds on plant matter and can consume dry grass and thorny plants that other animals avoid; it obtains food by biting grass with its teeth. Its diet includes grass, hay, branches, leaves, bark, plants, and wood, with a daily food requirement ranging from 3 kilograms to 7 kilograms. Young foals feed on milk. The species employs grazing as its feeding strategy. In some cultures, the animal is eaten, but it is not considered kosher.
Reproduction
The species develops from an embryo for 1 year, and the female always carries a single offspring for about 1 year, giving birth to live young on land. A litter has 1 individual, and the foal is born sighted and can walk within an hour. The species inhabits and develops on land, outside of bodies of water, with nests built on or near the ground; these nests are located directly on the surface of the ground. Only the mother displays parental care for the young in these terrestrial nests. The species reaches maturity from 1 to 3 years of age, and the interval between reproduction is from 1 year to 1 year 6 months. Reproduction always occurs with fertilization, without any alternation of generations; this is a case of homogamy.