THE FRIENDS of the Cyprus Donkey have completed a census of working animals throughout the Republic, revealing that there are almost 2,200 donkeys working or retired on the island.
The census, which was devised by the organisation and its Veterinary adviser Dr Athos Savvides, was carried out by means of forms distributed to all villages.
It asked every mukhtar to state the number of donkeys, their age, whether or not they were still working and the names and telephone numbers of their owners. The final total was reached on June 10.
The project was helped by a grant from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
“The census has enabled us to assess the nature of veterinary and health-care services, which will be needed in the future,” said Friends of the Donkey Administrator Mary Skinner.
“Since we started a visiting welfare service in 2001 – the Outreach Programme – we have visited more than 20 villages and inspected and treated more than 350 working animals.”
Skinner said the programme was essential because of the decline in the number of animals and the almost complete disappearance of basic services such as the vital care of feet and teeth.
Of he 2,175 animals counted, approximately 1,800 are estimated to be working in villages. A further 300 are working at tourist sites providing ‘safari’ and riding facilities, while 170 are in sanctuaries for unwanted or retired animals.
“The trend is clear,” Skinner said. “Tourist activities – the use of working donkeys for purely commercial purposes – whether in seaside or rural locations are on the increase and the use of donkeys for agricultural and other rural purposes is declining quickly.”
The highest number of donkeys was recorded in the Paphos district, with 897, followed by the Limassol district with 745 and Nicosia with 225. Larnaca and Famagusta areas have only around 150 donkeys each. The highest number of donkeys in any one village was at Pachna village above, which has 156 donkeys.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
