Donkeys were introduced to Australia from Africa in 1866 to work as pack animals. Feral donkeys are common in the Katherine region of the Northern Territory (NT). It is estimated there are tens of thousands of feral donkeys in the arid zones of Central Australia, Western Australia and the Top End.
Donkeys arrived in Australia in 1866 to serve as pack animals and in haulage teams. They were particularly useful in the Kimberley, Western Australia and in Victoria River in the Northern Territory, where a toxic plant affected horses.
In an article published on 9 September in Science, the researchers reveal that the donkey was first domesticated in Africa in 5,000 B.C.E, around the time when the Sahara became the desert region we know today.
Horses (Equus caballus) were introduced with European settlement both in Australia and New Zealand. Over time, animals escaped and were released and were first recognised as pests in Australia in the 1860's.
Horses first arrived in Australia in 1788 with the First Fleet. They were imported for farm and utility work; recreational riding and racing were not major activities. By 1800, only about 200 horses are thought to have reached Australia.
Australia isn't home to any native hard-hoofed mammals, and feral horses can cause immense ecological damage as a result – particularly in the fragile high country of the Australian Alps, including Alpine and Kosciuszko national parks.
Archaeologists say horse domestication may have begun in Kazakhstan about 5,500 years ago, about 1,000 years earlier than originally thought.
Forced out by rising water levels, the sturdy Tarpan migrated to wherever there was dry land: the British Isles, Scandinavia, and otherwise the European continent. The Tarpan was the forebear of the many European horse breeds that later developed.
The true horse migrated from the Americas to Eurasia via Beringia, becoming broadly distributed from North America to central Europe, north and south of Pleistocene ice sheets. It became extinct in Beringia around 14,200 years ago, and in the rest of the Americas around 10,000 years ago.
Horses probably first came to Japan in the Kamakura Period (1184-1333), when warriors from Korea and China brought cavalry, but they might have arrived even earlier, from Mongolia.
Breeding: A donkey bred to a donkey produces a donkey. Donkey jacks are crossed on horse mares to produce mules, while the opposite cross (stallion x donkey jennet) gives a hinny. There are few pure breeds of donkey in the United States, where they are known by their sizes and types.
The Muscat or Yemen ass was developed in Arabia. By the second millennium BC, the donkey was brought to Europe, possibly at the same time as viticulture was introduced, as the donkey is associated with the Syrian god of wine, Dionysus.
Other donkey advantages, according to Matthews: donkeys are better adapted to climate changes; they can withstand heat better; they can go longer without water than a horse; and they are more resistant to many diseases than horses. Donkeys live longer than horses, too.
Donkeys were introduced to Australia from Africa in 1866 to work as pack animals. Feral donkeys are common in the Katherine region of the Northern Territory (NT). It is estimated there are tens of thousands of feral donkeys in the arid zones of Central Australia, Western Australia and the Top End.
The Roman Army was responsible for the movement of donkeys into Northern Europe. Donkeys were used in agriculture and as pack animals. The Romans used donkeys in their new vineyards, some planted as far north as France and Germany. Donkeys came to England with the Roman invasion of Britain in AD 43.
Where do donkeys live? Wild donkeys are found in deserts and savannas in northern Africa from Morocco to Somalia, in the Arabian Peninsula and in the Middle East. One species, the kiang or Tibetan wild ass, is found in China, northern parts of Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bhutan, and in northern parts of Pakistan.
Horses were first domesticated in the Eurasian Steppes during the 4th millennium B.C.E. and spread to and throughout the Near East and Mediterranean from there. In Greece, horses became important in life generally and especially in warfare, racing, traveling, and hunting.
Domestic horses and ponies are a familiar feature of the British countryside. Few realise that these are derived from the extinct wild horse that was once widespread across north-west Europe, including the British Isles.
The first ancient horses lived in forests 55 million years ago, both in Europe and America. At that time they were the size of dogs. Horses resembling the ones we know today evolved in North America. From there they spread to Asia and Europe.
Also known as Russ (from the Old Norse hross), Skogruss (little horse of the woods) and Skogsbaggar (forest rams), the Gotland is a primitive breed, having been shaped partially by natural selection. They are the only pony that is native to Sweden.
They were brought over by immigrants to Scandinavia in the 1700s. These horses were primarily used for farm work. Soon after, Coldblood Trotters became popular as harness racing horses during WWII when gas was limited. Today, you can see the Scandinavian Coldblood Trotter outside their native countries.
The History of the Dala Horse
Horses were highly valued and became a symbol of strength and courage. They arrived in Sweden 4000 years ago and were tamed and domesticated around that time. In the 17th century little wooden horses were sold at markets in small towns and villages in Dalarna, in central Sweden.
Ancient nomads from the Eurasian Steppe may have been the earliest people to ride horses, new archaeological evidence suggests. And the equestrian practice could have given them a competitive advantage as they galloped across Europe.
After examining archaeological remains of horses, researchers suggest Indigenous peoples had spread the animals through the American West by the first half of the 1600s—before they encountered Europeans.
<br /> Thoroughbred   The oldest recorded thoroughbred racehorse was the 42-year-old chestnut gelding Tango Duke (foaled 1935), owned by Carmen J. Koper of Barongarook, Victoria, Australia. The horse died on 25 January 1978.