The American Mammoth Jackstock is a

breed A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...

of North American donkey, descended from large

donkey The domestic donkey is a hoofed mammal in the family Equidae, the same family as the horse. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a ...

s imported to the United States from about 1785.

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

, with

Henry Clay Henry Clay Sr. (April 12, 1777June 29, 1852) was an American attorney and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. He was the seventh House speaker as well as the ninth secretary of state, al ...

and others, bred for an ass that could be used to produce strong work

mule The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two pos ...

s. Washington was offering his jacks for stud service by 1788. Large breeds of asses were found in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

by 1800. Breeds that influenced the Mammoth Jack include the

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, the

Baudet du Poitou The Baudet du Poitou, also called the Poitevin or Poitou donkey, is a French breed of donkey. It is one of the largest breeds, and jacks (donkey stallions) were bred to mares of the Poitevin horse breed to produce Poitevin mules, which were f ...

, the

Andalusian Andalusia is a region in Spain. Andalusian may also refer to: Animals *Andalusian chicken, a type of chicken *Andalusian donkey, breed of donkey *Andalusian hemipode, a buttonquail, one of a small family of birds *Andalusian horse, a breed of ho ...

, the

Majorcan Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous communities of Spain, autono ...

and the

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

. Measured from the ground to the

withers The withers is the ridge between the shoulder blades of an animal, typically a quadruped. In many species, it is the tallest point of the body. In horses and dogs, it is the standard place to measure the animal's height. In contrast, cattle ar ...

, Jacks (entire males) must stand at least , and jennies or jennets (females) at least in order to be classified as mammoth size. The American Mammoth Jackstock Registry has more stringent requirements: minimum 14 hands and 7.5” cannon bone circumference for jennets and geldings; minimum 14.2 hands and 8” cannon bone circumference for jacks; 61” heart girth in all cases The largest living mammoth donkey, at , resides in

Adrian, Michigan Adrian is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Lenawee County. The population was 20,645 at the 2020 census. Adrian lies in Michigan's 7th congressional district. History Adrian was founded on June 18, 1826 by Addison Co ...

References

External links

American Mammoth Jackstock AssociationAmerican Donkey and Mule SocietyAmerican Mammoth Jackstock Registry
Donkey breeds originating in the United States Donkey breeds Conservation Priority Breeds of the Livestock Conservancy {{horse-stub