Cleopatra Being an Ass

This is Cleopatra, a pet on my brother's ranch. She is very affectionate, loves attention and is hard to photograph because she'll keep moving toward... more

by Sarah Loft

Title

Cleopatra Being an Ass

Artist

Sarah Loft

Medium

Photograph

Description

This is Cleopatra, a pet on my brother's ranch. She is very affectionate, loves attention and is hard to photograph because she'll keep moving toward me as I step back to get a shot. When she made it right up to the pasture fence, I decided to just take the shot. There are eight donkeys on the ranch, but Cleopatra likes to think she is a horse and spends most of her time with the horses and goes into a stall in the stable to be fed and groomed with the other horses.

Per Wikipedia: The donkey or ass (Equus africanus asinus) is a domesticated member of the horse family, Equidae. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African wild ass, E. africanus. The donkey has been used as a working animal for at least 5000 years. There are more than 40 million donkeys in the world, mostly in underdeveloped countries, where they are used principally as draught or pack animals. Working donkeys are often associated with those living at or below subsistence levels. Small numbers of donkeys are kept for breeding or as pets in developed countries.

Asses were first domesticated around 3000 BC, probably in Egypt or Mesopotamia, and have spread around the world. They continue to fill important roles in many places today. While domesticated species are increasing in numbers, the African wild ass is an endangered species. As beasts of burden and companions, asses and donkeys have worked together with humans for millennia.

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Featured in the Animal Photographs group, November 2017.

Uploaded

October 14th, 2017