Balkan donkey for Sale

The Balkan Donkey for sale or mountain donkey, Serbian: Domaći balkanski magarac, is a breed of domestic donkey originating in the Balkans. It is reported from Serbia and Montenegro.

A herd of about 120 Balkan donkeys in the Zasavica Reserve, Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia are used to make the world’s most expensive cheese, pule cheese.

Throughout history, donkeys have helped humans with agriculture and transportation—especially on the Balkan Peninsula, home to more than 70 percent of Europe’s donkey population. Perhaps one of the best-known breeds is Serbia’s domaći balkanski magarac (domestic Balkan donkey)—a tame member of the horse family that descended from the African wild ass, which was domesticated between 7000 and 6000 BCE in North Africa.

Now Balkan donkeys are endangered; only an estimated 500 to 1,000 remained in 2014, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Once people stopped using them for fieldwork, some animals were treated poorly and beaten, says Jovan Vukadinović, farm manager at Zasavica Special Nature Reserve, located near Serbia’s northwestern border. Slobodan Simić, who founded the reserve in 1997, decided to rescue the donkeys—and to make cheese from their milk.

“In 2000, we started with three donkeys,” says Vukadinović, noting the herd is now about 200-strong. “The idea was to save the breed. We never thought we would make a farm.”

Appearance and Temperament
Donkeys have a reputation for stubbornness, but Vukadinović insists the animals always act with reason and are clever to boot. A horse, he explains, will run right off a cliff if the rider whips it hard enough, but a donkey will stop when it senses danger.

These gentle, affectionate creatures are on the smaller side as far as donkeys go: Males weigh around 550 pounds and females around 440 pounds, with both sexes averaging 38 inches in height. Coat colors include gray, brown, and reddish-brown, and all have distinctive cross marks on their backs.