Beatrice's Story

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In July 2023, we made an emergency trip to Texas to rescue pairs of moms and babies held at the auction grounds. While we were there, we found a BIG surprise in the auction holding pens: two beautiful mammoth donkey sisters. Both were HUGE donkeys, very pregnant, and very sick. As their name suggests, mammoths are the largest type of donkeys. They typically weigh around 1,000 pounds, about double the size of standard donkeys.  

 

Apparently, one of the jennies was 4 years old when her sister was born. For the younger one, who is now about 3 years old, her older sister is all she’s ever known. We knew we had to rescue this bonded pair so that we could keep them — and their future family — together.  

 

After spending 10 days in a quarantine pasture, the mammoth sisters arrived at Oscar’s Place. A donor named the pair Beatrice and Sylvia. Both were fighting wounds, nasal discharge, and potentially lung infections. As big as their bellies are for being late in their pregnancies, Beatrice and Sylvia were both extremely malnourished. Their hips were some of the boniest we’ve seen. 

 

The race against time to get weight on them, clear up their infections, and help them deliver healthy goals was on. To complicate matters, they arrived very scared of humans and not very handleable. Our plan is to keep them in quarantine through their healing process (and likely through the delivery of their foals), and give them patience and love as they settle into their new home. 

 

In time, these two jennies will become more comfortable around humans. They will learn that we are here to help them, not hurt them. They will begin to trust that they are safe here, and their babies will be, too. We are so happy that these mammoth sisters are here, and that they will have the chance to grow old together. Help show Beatrice and Sylvia that humans can be trusted!