The Cyprus donkey is the donkey breed of the Mediterranean island of
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...
.
[Breed data sheet: Cyprus/Cyprus]
Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed December 2013. There are two principal strains: a large dark-coloured type with a pale belly, probably of European origin; and a small grey African type which represents about 20% of the total population, which in 2002 was estimated at 2200–2700.
The Cypriot donkey was an integral component of rural life from prehistoric times until the 20th century.
Archimandrite Kyprianos in 1788 records that feral donkeys existed in the mountainous regions of
Akamas and
Karpasia.
Some hundreds of Cyprus donkeys live in a
feral
A feral () animal or plant is one that lives in the wild but is descended from domesticated individuals. As with an introduced species, the introduction of feral animals or plants to non-native regions may disrupt ecosystems and has, in some ...
state on the
Karpass Peninsula in the Turkish-controlled northern part of Cyprus. They were abandoned there by
Greek Cypriot
Greek Cypriots or Cypriot Greeks ( el, Ελληνοκύπριοι, Ellinokýprioi, tr, Kıbrıs Rumları) are the ethnic Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest ethnolinguistic community. According to the 2011 census, 659,115 r ...
farmers during the
Turkish invasion in 1974. In 2008, a group of Greek and
Turkish Cypriots
Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks ( tr, Kıbrıs Türkleri or ''Kıbrıslı Türkler''; el, Τουρκοκύπριοι, Tourkokýprioi) are ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,0 ...
organized to save the animals from extinction after ten of them were found shot dead.
[ Accessed November 2016.]
References
Mammals of Europe
Donkey breeds originating in Cyprus
Donkey breeds
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