I hardly see any donkeys anymore strutting around. I know most of them have been put up in the sanctuary and I know they cause traffic problems. But isn't the real solution to do something about the traffic instead of removing the donkeys. They are a part of Bonaire's wildlife, aren't they? I hope we're not going to put the Flamingo's in cages because they crap the roofs.

No Waldo, they are a foreign invader, not part of Bonaires natural wildlife, and they compete with native species for food. I'd rather see the native species helped along a bit. Nobody is putting flamingos in cages, in fact, people are trying to stop the caging of Lora. If you miss the donkeys you can go to their sanctuary.

PS it's not traffic problems, it's vehicular accidents that's the problem.

Some of our best trips(26 in the last 6 years) involve the donkeys,their activities and behaviour. I hope they do not put them all in a cage. Seeing them "populate" the island at three in the morning outside out hotel window is just one memory my wife and I will never forget. Gave us some ideas since we were up anyway. There is not a trip we have made that the donkeys have not been a part of the stories we took home or reminded us to slow down and look at nature while on Bonaire. I can go to my local zoo and look at things in cages. We are returning in January and hope there will be a number of the donkeys still roaming.

I know that the sanctuary is doing a great job with the old, sick and injured donkeys. Actually, I think the donkeys prefer to stay out of harms way when the vegetation is so green. They don't come down out of the "mountains" often when there is an abundance of food. I found this with the iguana too. When it is dry, you tend to see many more donkeys and iguana in the populated areas. I would definitely take a trip north, check out the park...sure you will see the loveable donkeys!

Liz

I believe that Marina was going to get all of the wild donkeys in the sanctuary by the end of September (the one's that weren't caught and brought to the shelter were going to be euthanized I believe, someone correct me if I'm wrong). She has a Donkey Safari Park (something of that name) and much much more land for them to roam free in (a lot of acres). I know the plan was to have benches and eating tables in the park, so you could go to the park and have a picnic and enjoy the donkeys where they are safe and out of harms way. It is fun to see them roaming the streets, but so many have been killed in accidents, run over and such. Plus with tourists feeding them, they weren't afraid of going near the roads.

So, I'm with Seb. Go to the sanctuary and see the donkeys, and give a drop in the bucket to help keep them safe

The donkeys outside the sanctuary are not going to be killed. They did a big roundup to bring in the majority of the donkeys and as opportunity presents itself they will attempt to collect the remain donkeys. Catching the donkeys safely is just not as easy as it may sound.

Marina told me that she did have to euthanize about a handful of the recently captured donkeys because they had untreatable diseases that would have spread through the sanctuary population. So all the new ones were examined and treated as needed by a vet.

The donkeys are not in cages at the sanctuary. Think big ranch. They are in a very large fenced in area currently about 78 hectares. The sanctuary should be getting an additional 22 hectares. Right near the entrance there are a couple small fenced areas for the orphan baby donkeys, and some small covered stalls for donkeys needing treatment. When school children come to visit, the kids are put in a fenced porch building so the donkeys can choose to or not visit with the kids. So I guess the kids are caged.

Linda, thank you for the clarification on the status of the un-caught donkeys. I'm sure it isn't easy to catch them (I have a nice visual in my mind...it isn't easy to get a tame horse or cow in a trailer sometimes!)

I think the last email from Marina said that they had over 200 donkeys now in the sanctuary

Free the kids! (just kidding)...<wink>

I talked to Marina in early November and the magic number was 300 donkeys.

WOW! 300! That's a LOT of donkeys

Cynde, I think (from what I've seen at the Sanctuary) the kids should be kept in cages... LOL

I think Marina is doing a great job for the donkeys and everybody should go and pay her a visit.

Yes, everyone should have a drive through when the donkey safari park opens. And don't forget to make an extra donation to help pay for the land that was purchased to house the remaining Bonairean donkeys. Marina did not receive any governmental support to acquire that land--she has relied on donations and her own money. She is a saint in my opinion! but I agree it will be sad not to hear them "braying" at night but at least now I sleep better knowing that Marina is not getting up in the wee hours of the morning either to rescue a donkey hit by a car or a baby stolen from its mother and being abused. Towards the end there she was rescuing 3 donkeys a week on average.

I wish all the donkeys could be in the sanctuary where they could be safe from all the speeding cars-there is nothing "natural" about seeing an injured donkey lying in the road-by then it's too late-Thanks goodness for Marina!

Dear Bonaire friends and animal lovers , thanks for your support and also thank you for saying that the donkeys were the charm also for Bonaire , to make a long story short , for the Donkeys it is the Best , for the tourists it is an attraction but the tourists didn't know that by feeding the donkeys near the road ( what happen very very often ) it was and is not good for the donkeys ! Aldo we had an sign in the arrival hall and spread flyers , so now the dissision was made by the governement and the members off a donkey commitee ( who was named by the governement ) that the donkeys were better off by taken care of marina in her /my sanctuary , we decided to buy the land for the donkeys and give them a better live instead off car accidants / abusing etc. , so enjoy the idea of an Safaripark for the donkeys with a good area for them , no breeding , as all off island donkeys are inbreed, and in ten or twenty years we still have the donkeys but in a controled situation ( we will insemenate some healthy donkeys against the time when it is needed from abbroad to get healthy donkeys again ) as for now allthe males must be castrated . Att this moment we have 321 donkeys in our Sanctuary and next year march or april we are ready with the Donkey Paradise Safari Park , we are looking for sponsers for a WEBCAM there , so Jake Richter can help us to buy it and install it for us and we need a lot of sponsers for fostering a donkey !! Pleas HELP US TO DO OUR JOB !!
We only catch Donkeys who are causes problems so called by the governement , donkeys who are far in nature , can stay there untill they become a problem donkey . But this was never my idea , but too rescue them comes first and that is what we did , coming month we have to pickup approx. 70 or 80 more so a lot work to do for us .
Thank you for your time and please feel free to email me at donkeyshelp@telbonet.an , because I have no time to be on bonairetalk so often
a donkey hug for donkey friends and by the way , Karin , Sandy and all the donkeys are HAPPY , believe me , and me too because since 6 sept NO car accidant happen !
Marina

Marina,

Thank you for posting the update on the donkey situation. I'm so glad that you have rescued so many, but I know it is such hard work, so thank you! I need to start raising money again to adopt our BT Donkey "Karin" for another year :-)

Cynde

OK, just posted it. Actually, it is Gilian we want to adopt for another year, Karin is Sandy's mommy

http://www.oldbonairetalk.com/newsgroup/messages/771/192938.html?1102371672#POST228507

Cynde