Meet Beatrice

Beatrice’s Story

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. We knew we had to rescue this bonded pair so that we could keep them, and their future family, together.  

After spending ten 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 were for being late in their pregnancies, Beatrice and Sylvia were both extremely malnourished. Their hips were some of the boniest we had ever 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. We gave them patience and love as they settled into their new home. 

Beatrice had her baby, Kate, a healthy, beautiful girl. But when Sylvia gave birth to Babe, there were issues from the start. Babe wouldn’t nurse, and then Sylvia lay down and wouldn’t get back up. We rushed them both to UC Davis, where they spent a week. Sylvia had post-foaling laminitis, a painful condition. We pulled out all the stops for her, and she turned the corner. But sadly, Sylvia never fully recovered, and her pain became too much to bear. We said goodbye to her in August 2025. 

In the past, we’ve also been worried about Beatrice’s health, but currently, she’s doing really well. Only one of Beatrice’s feet has a wrap on it. She’s been moved to a bigger pasture where she can get more exercise. Physically, she’s the most pain-free that she’s been in for a long time.  

She spends her days with her daughter, Kate, and niece, Babe. The three of them are healing together. They sunbathe, get spoiled, and soak up all the love from our staff and volunteers.