Dear Benjamin,
The only part of your question that I can help with is whether donkeys
go feral. Yes they do. At least in Cyprus, where i come from there are
feral herds of donkeys, especially in the Karpas peninsula (the pointy
peninsula to the east). Their origin is the abandoning of old or
injured donkeys in the past and also the turkish invasion of Cyprus in
1974 separated many donkeys from their owners.
Good luck with your research,
Angelos Hadjikoumis
Quoting Benjamin Arbuckle <[log in to unmask]>:
> Dear colleagues,
>
> I have been looking into Roman sources (Strabo, Varro) which repeatedly
> refer to the presence of "wild asses" in central Anatolia (Turkey)
> in antiquity.
> Wild donkeys are not present in this region and evidence for hemiones is very
> sparse, while the extinct hydruntine was the dominant "ass" at least through
> the middle Holocene. Are these authors possibly referring to a very late
> presence of an extinct equid or is there another explanation? Is it
> possible for
> donkeys to go feral? Are there any example of this?
> Any thoughts would be appreciated.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Benjamin Arbuckle
>
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