海角大神

Hamilton the endangered donkey will be 3 months old this Saturday.

He鈥檚 come a long way in a short time. When he was born in June, the folks at Arnold鈥檚 Rescue Center, his Vermont home, weren鈥檛 sure he鈥檇 make it, . But he lived, and now he鈥檚 strong enough to , ears flapping like a happy hound dog.

He loves the ball. He will . He鈥檚 bereft when it deflates.

Hamilton is rare because he鈥檚 a purebred [Pwa-too] donkey, one of only several hundred worldwide. They鈥檙e native to France, with big ears, big lips, and a distinctive adult coat.

He鈥檚 important because he was conceived using artificial insemination, the first time that鈥檚 worked with a Poitou in the United States. That promises a new way to save a draft animal .

Heritage breeds such as the Poitou are important in themselves, and as an artifact of agricultural history. The Livestock Conservancy defines them as animals you鈥檇 have found on your great-grandparents鈥� farm.

were self-foraging birds developed in the early 1900s. They鈥檝e become rare as farms mechanized. , whose ancestors may date to the 1500s, used to range free on open land. That practice, and the open land, no longer exist.

鈥淗eritage animals once roamed the pastures of America鈥檚 pastoral landscape, but today these breeds are in danger of extinction,鈥澛�.