Farmers in Australia have been successfully surprised by a task they have assigned to a group of donkeys limited to wild dogs that attack their flocks.
Wild dogs living in the forests had previously kidnapped many calves from farms. But there have been no losses since farmers began to put the donkeys with their herds.
Farmer Ian Sylvester, who has 17 donkeys running with 120 heads of cattle at his ranch in Coran, 142 km north of Brisbane, lost a calf to wild dogs in a barn with no donkeys, but did not lose any cattle in barns containing Donkeys.
They are very curious, so they do not fail to progress and chase something, "Sylvester told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
He points out that he is not sure whether it is the donkeys or the donkeys that ran towards dogs that scare predators.
Greg Mifsud, coordinator of wild dog affairs at the Invasive Species Solutions Center, said donkeys are increasingly used to deter dog attacks. But pointed out that some donkeys are better guards than others.
"Some are very good at protecting cattle, while others prefer to hang around with themselves and do things of their own," Mifsod told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.