Virgin Islands

By Meredith Hodges

Vacation?!! Who, me?! Well, no one would say I didn’t try, but again, my passion for Longears won out! As a Christmas present, my husband bought tickets to visit St. Thomas and St. John in the Virgin Islands of the Caribbean in February for a week during my birthday, our first non-longears vacation in twelve years! We spent four restful
days in St. Thomas before going to St. John. As we waited on the dock for the ferry to St. John, I happened to notice a bulletin board with a memo concerning the experimental immuno-contraception of feral donkeys inhabiting the Virgin Island National Park on St. John. Naturally, my curiosity was sparked and we obtained further information from the park’s service office near the dock. I didn’t even know there were such donkeys on St. John and I wanted to see them!

Outlined in the information that the park service gave me was an assessment of a plan for the environmental control of these donkeys by means of a contraceptive vaccine that is administered via blowpipe, or carbon dioxide-powered rifle. The donkeys had been wild since 1671 when plantation owners turned them loose. The National Park Service was concerned since exotic species have the power to change the character of an ecosystem, and felt they needed to control the population growth of the donkeys to maintain the integrity of the environment. On the surface, the plan sounded as if it had some merit, so we planned to investigate further when we got to St. John.

Offices were closed on Sunday, so we decided to go shopping for a while, and then go looking for wild donkeys. We had no sooner stepped out of the taxi at the shopping complex when we spotted three donkeys in a baseball field across the road. What luck! We hurried down to take pictures of them and while we were stalking the donkeys, a voice came to us from the road, “Don’t get too close–they’re wild and the park doesn’t like it when people get close to the donkeys!” I quickly responded that we raised donkeys and were just interested in getting some photographs. Soon, I found myself engaged in conversation with donkey protectionist Sandra Kelly, who wanted me to meet with her associates Terry Conklin and Mary Eldergill after she found out that I was an American Donkey & Mule Society representative, animal inspector and judge. We met over lunch, at which time they filled me in on the atrocities that were taking place against the St. John donkeys.

Testing for immuno-contraception itself seemed a viable scientific experiment, but what I learned of their approach stunned me! First, it seemed that they didn’t have an efficient way of counting the donkeys that roamed freely about the island with its dense foliage. I was assured that there were probably less than the 300 donkeys that the park service had quoted. Second, if they were as prolific as the park service believed by their statistics and predictions, there should have been over 40,000 donkeys on the island by now provided the numbers were correct in 1671. Their means of identifying the donkeys was to draw pictures of them and to mark them with paint, which would eventually wash off during frequent tropical rains. The donkeys were baited in certain areas and then shot with the contraceptive. After baiting the donkeys, because of the natural affection that they have for humans (which makes them ideal for domestication), the donkeys began to frequent more populated areas and became a nuisance to residents and tourists. At one point, 10 donkeys were literally murdered on the beach in front of tourists for being a so-called nuisance!

Did these donkeys really need to be controlled and if so, how? Is this really a scientific experiment in immuno-contraception, or is this only camouflage for a plan to completely annihilate the donkeys of St. John? The longer I spoke to Sandra, Terry and Mary, the more I realized the intense need for some compromising solution to the problem. They were having an important meeting on the issue with Virgin Islands Senator Lorraine Berry to discuss the issues and wanted me to attend, but I wasn’t able to stay. They requested that I call Senator Berry before I left, which I did, and gave her my thoughts on the subject.

In my estimation, the scientific experiment that is supposedly taking place may, or may not have merit. The way in which it was being conducted would be laughable were it not for the donkey lives at stake! Scientific experiments need to be organized and controlled. How could they possible hope to monitor these animals effectively with such primitive methods? Secondly, if we are talking about testing an immuno-contraceptive, then why not use an animal that is really more prolific? Donkeys, unlike most equines, seem to have the ability to conceive and abort at will. They live in small family groups, not huge or even moderately large herds and they eat a minimal amount to survive. They are very careful travelers and don’t necessarily go far when food and fresh water is plentiful. They are attracted to humans, but will be timid about actual contact until domesticated. By baiting these donkeys, it seems that the park has taken the first step towards domestication without realizing what they have done. Then, those donkeys that become friendly are shot as a nuisance!

St. John is economically poor and it would seem that the donkeys could make a valuable contribution. If these donkeys were rounded up and managed properly, there is really no end to their usefulness to the people of St. John. The successful plight of the donkeys and burros in the United States has proven that most of the wild donkeys can be trained and become a useful member of society as a work, pet or pleasure animal. The donkeys on St. John could serve as a vehicle to teach children to ride. They could carry tourists on beach or trail rides. They could give variety to athletics with donkey baseball and basketball. They could guard herds of sheep, goats and other livestock. There could be the promotion and sales of donkey-related items, such as t-shirts, jewelry and island art. Donkeys are terrific animals to use in handicapped and disabled drive and ride programs. They have been proven to be very therapeutic because of their careful and affectionate nature. It seems that there would be more profit from making the donkeys an attraction rather than a distraction.

Donkeys not easily domesticated could be allowed to roam free and propagate with a yearly roundup of the younger and more impressionable donkeys, which could be put into the economic system. This, to me, seems like a more rational approach to the population control of these donkeys. It would increase the economy, increase jobs and take the fear of the donkeys out of the St. John residents as they come to understand one of God’s most charitable creatures! Donkeys can be inexpensively fenced out of gardens and yards. Good management is the key. And let’s face it… if you are going to do a scientific experiment, then please, let’s do it scientifically!

To learn more about Meredith Hodges and her comprehensive all-breed equine training program, visit LuckyThreeRanch.com, MEREDITH HODGES PUBLIC FIGURE Facebook page, or call 1-800-816-7566. Check out her children’s website at JasperTheMule.com. Also, find Meredith on Pinterest, Instagram, MeWe, YouTube and Twitter.

Covered in TRAINING MULES & DONKEY: A LOGICAL APPROACH TO TRAINING, TRAINING WITHOUT RESISTANCE, EQUUS REVISITED and A GUIDE TO RAISING & SHOWING MULES at www.luckythreeranchstore.com.

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