The Australian 'Teamster' donkey

The Australian teamster's donkeys were derived from the best of the world's large working donkeys. From what can be gathered, the majority of animals came from places such as India, Rawalpindi, Chile, America, Africa etc. and also included the massive European breeds such as Poitou, Maltese and Spanish donkeys, and American Jackstock up to 15 hh. The last known import of these large donkeys was in 1935.

The donkeys brought to this country generally needed to be of a good size, though some smaller donkeys may also have been present but not used in teams, and it is quite logical that they would have been sourced from countries with hot climates.

Two jacks imported from America in 1914:

John Marshall, Jr.	Libord

The home of the donkey was to be the remote arid inland of Australia and the monsoon country of the Kimberley's in Western Australia and Northern Territories. The donkey teamsters along with the camel teams supplied the remote outstations and settlements, going beyond the reach of bullock and horse teams, and being hardier for the harsh conditions, as well as being able to forage on the available herbage. The donkeys' staunchness in harness, and his propensity to stay close to the wagon, not straying far, were qualities the teamsters valued. Another reason donkeys, and mules were indispensable was the 'immunity' they had to "Kimberly Walk-About disease" a fatal condition caused by ingestion of a poison weed. The ass either avoided or was immune to its effects.

The donkey is essentially a desert animal, he has a more efficient use of both feed and water, and the "cooling system" includes fat deposits that act as to insulate. They produce less moisture in dung, can dehydrate to a level that would kill a horse, and then take back in only enough water to exactly replenish the normal hydration levels.

The donkey teams were large, up to 4 abreast and commonly 20-40 or more per team, they were driven by voice alone, the teamster walking alongside his team. They hauled loads as diverse as aromatic sandlewood, missionaries' provisions, iron tanks and boilers for mines, wool bales and food supplies.

Up until the 1930s, donkeys were an integral part of the transport network of the outback. However, with the increasing use of mechanised transport, donkeys largely outlived their usefulness, by the 1940's the working donkey was gone. Many were released, forming feral herds in outback areas, breeding up in the hundreds of thousands, and becoming an environmental problem still being dealt with today.

During the 1970's there was something of a revival of interest in the donkey as a recreational animal, and many bush donkeys found themselves becoming the basis of hobby studs. Some larger stock were among the bush donkeys, a few up to 14 hands, more commonly 12-13 hands.

Unfortunately for the donkey, in Australia it has never been given the chance to exist in an organised studbook even though it has been recognised as having developed in its isolation into a superior standard/large standard donkey. Many Australian teamster descendents (some taken from feral situations) are still with devoted owners.

All over the world, enthusiasts are gathering together their regional breeds of donkeys, recognising that they have been a long neglected species. Few of these breeds had ever been recognised as far as registration in a studbook, it is more that a region had a particular type, and that became the local donkey.