DONKEY | Donkey Sanctuary Aruba – Desiree Eldering – Development of 1038 alfachunck donkey
Donkey Sanctuary Aruba opened its doors to the public in 2004. The years before that, from 1997 to 2004, we were mainly busy catching, caring for and maintaining the donkeys.
The very first donkey, Ban Ban, spring 1994, was a baby when boiling water was poured over his back. It took another three years before we had a piece of land and caught ten donkeys that crossed a major road every day, risking their lives. Quite a few donkeys were killed there.
In 2016 we moved to a larger site. Going from 15,000 m² to 40,000 m² took some getting used to. Fast forward to 2025: today we care for 132 donkeys, including three from Bonaire and two stallions from Curaçao, who are here to help ensure that genetically healthy donkeys will be born again. A very nice project, though it makes some people raise their eyebrows — after all, we are a “sanctuary.” Yes, we are, but we’re also here to ensure that the donkey keeps its well-deserved place in Aruba’s history. They belong to Aruba — that’s what we believe, and fortunately many others do too. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of inbreeding, which means that few foals grow up and many die young. It will take ten generations before we have a healthy donkey again. We’ve made the start; I won’t see the end of it. Ideally, a mare should be five years old before she has her first foal.
Donkeys eat everything — including many things that aren’t good for them, such as Cheetos, Doritos, bread, hamburgers, fries, etc. All of this is given by tourists to the “wild” donkeys on Aruba.
We, and our visitors too, spoil the donkeys with carrots, apples, kiwi, and green beans (see photo). The latter are very nutritious and we also give them when a donkey isn’t feeling well, or is newly arrived with us.
We can’t feed our donkeys 24 hours a day, because then we wouldn’t notice if they stopped eating. When a donkey is sick, it stops eating. Feeding around the clock would be better, but it’s simply not possible with 132 donkeys.
We used to buy our pellets locally — good quality, but not really made for donkeys. Through various contacts, at the end of 2015 we got in touch with Garvo. After many phone calls with Herman Garretsen, we created a balanced recipe for donkeys living in the heat.
We left out some heat-sensitive ingredients and replaced them with others, because we have to be able to store the pellets for half a year in the warm climate. They need to keep well so that the last pellet still has the same quality as the first one! We succeeded! A few years later, we asked for more biotin and vitamin B12, as we have many older donkeys. It feels very classy to be able to feed our dear donkeys a custom-made pellet.
Besides the quality of the feed, we’re also super happy with Garvo’s attention and service. They’re always willing to act quickly. We’re sometimes a bit late placing an order — it’s hard to estimate how many bags are still left in the container. Between ordering and delivery, there’s a period of six weeks! We hope to continue ordering the 1038 alfachunck donkey for many more years to come.
